THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

BEQUEST 
OF 

LOUISIANA  SCOTT  SHUMAN 


THE 
WRITINGS   AND    SPEECHES 

OF 

DANIEL   WEBSTER 


VOLUME      FOUR 


THE  NATIONAL  EDITION  OF  THE 
WRITINGS  fcf  SPEECHES  OF  DANIEL 
WEBSTER  IS  LIMITED  TO  ONE 
THOUSAND  AND  FIFTY  COPIES 
THIS  SET  IS  NUMBER... 


Daniel   Webster 

From  the  Study  by  G.  P.  A.  Healy,  in  the  possession  of 

Mr.  Charles  P.  Greenough,  made  for 
the  artist's  celebrated  Painting,  "  The  Reply  to  Hayne  " 


(SI'S 


The  Writings  and  Speeches  of 

DANIEL  WEBSTER 

In  Eighteen  Volumes  -  NATIONAL 
EDITION  •  Illustrated  with 
Portraits  and  Plates  •  VOLUME 
FOUR  -  SPEECHES  ON 
VARIOUS  OCCASIONS 


BOSTON  •   LITTLE,  BROWN,  &  COMPANY 
NINETEEN   HUNDRED  AND    THREE 


COPYRIGHT,    1903, 
BY   LITTLE,    BROWN,   AND  COMPANY. 


LOAN  STACK 
GIFT 


UNIVERSITY    PRESS    •    JOHN    WILSON 
AND    SON        •      CAMBRIDGE,     U.S.A. 


A  -i 

103 


CONTENTS 


Speeches  delivered  on  Various  Public  Occasions 

PAGE 

PUBLIC  DINNER  AT  PHILADELPHIA i 

A  Speech  delivered  at  a  Public  Dinner  given  to  Mr.  Webster,  at 
Philadelphia,  on  the  ad  of  December,  1846,  Hon.  Samuel  Breck 
in  the  Chair. 

SOUTHERN  TOUR 67 

Speeches  delivered  by  Mr.  Webster  on  his  Arrival  at  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  p.  71  ;  at  the  Dinner  of  the  New  England  Society,  p.  76 ; 
at  the  Dinner  of  the  Charleston  Bar,  p.  875  on  his  Reception  at 
Columbia,  p.  935  on  his  Reception  at  Savannah,  p.  96. 

OPENING  OF  THE  NORTHERN  RAILROAD 105 

Remarks  made  at  the  Opening  of  the  Northern  Railroad  to  Grafton, 
New  Hampshire,  p.  1075  anc^  its  farther  Opening  to  Lebanon, 
N.  H.,  p.  112. 

SPEECH  AT  MARSHFIELD 119 

Delivered  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Citizens  of  Marshfield,  Mass. ,  on  the 
i st  of  September,  1848. 

SPEECH  IN  FANEUIL  HALL   PREVIOUS  TO  THE  ELECTION 

IN  1848 145 

A  Speech  delivered  in  Faneuil  Hall,  on  the  Z4th  of  October,  1848, 
at  a  General  Meeting  of  the  Whigs  of  Boston  and  the  Vicinity, 
previous  to  the  Presidential  Election  of  that  Year. 

JEREMIAH  MASON 175 

Remarks  made  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  i4th 
of  November,  1848,  on  presenting  to  the  Court  the  Resolutions  of 
the  Bar  of  Suffolk  in  Honor  of  Jeremiah  Mason. 


876 


vi  Contents 

PAG. 

FESTIVAL  OF  THE  SONS  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE    ....     193 

Two  Speeches  delivered  in  the  Hall  of  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  Com 
pany,  in  Boston,  on  the  yth  of  November,  1849,  at  a  Festival  of 
the  Natives  of  New  Hampshire  established  in  Massachusetts. 

PILGRIM  FESTIVAL  AT  NEW  YORK  IN  1850      ....     215 

A  Speech  delivered  at  the  Annual  Dinner  of  the  New  England 
Society  of  New  York,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1850. 

VISIT  TO  BUFFALO  IN  1851 227 

A  Speech  delivered  at  a  Public  Dinner  at  Buffalo,  on  Occasion  of  a 
Visit  to  that  Place,  on  the  aist  of  May,  1851,  p.  231. 

A  Speech  delivered  before  a  large  Assembly  of  the  Citizens  of 
Buffalo  and  the  County  of  Erie,  at  a  Public  Reception  on  the  zzd 
of  May,  1851,  p.  242. 

SPEECH  TO  THE  YOUNG  MEN  OF  ALBANY 263 

Delivered  on  the  2  8th  of  May,  1851,  at  the  Invitation  of  the  Young 
Men  of  Albany,  in  the  Public  Square  of  the  Capitol  in  that  City. 

THE  ADDITION  TO  THE  CAPITOL 291 

An  Address  delivered  at  the  Laying  of  the  Corner-stone  of  the 
Addition  to  the  Capitol,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1851. 


List  of  Illustrations 


VOLUME     FOUR 
Daniel  Webster Frontispiece 

From  the  study  by  G.  P.  A.  Healy,  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Charles  P.  Greenough 

Phillips-Exeter  Academy Engraved  Title 

From  a  photograph  in  the  possession  of  the  Academy 

The  Declaration  of  Independence Page    51 

From  the  painting  by  John  Trumbull,  in  the  Yale  School 
of  Fine  Arts,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

George  M.  Dallas "     166 

From  a  photograph,  from  life,  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  F.  Gutekunst 

Jeremiah  Mason "178 

From  the  painting  by  Gilbert  Stuart,  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  James  M.  Crafts 

The  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims "    218 

From  the  painting  by  Henry  Sargent,  in  Pilgrim 
Hall,  Plymouth,  Mass. 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia 


VOL.  iv.  — 


Introductory  Note 


In  the  spring  of  1846,  a  large  number  of  the  merchants  and  other 
citizens  of  Philadelphia  proposed  to  offer  to  Mr.  Webster  a  distinguished 
mark  of  their  approbation  of  his  political  course.  For  this  purpose  it 
was  determined  to  invite  him  to  a  public  dinner,  and  the  proposal  was 
eagerly  embraced  by  the  most  respectable  members  of  the  community, 
of  all  parties,  professions,  and  pursuits  in  life.  On  the  25th  of  April  a 
meeting  of  the  subscribers  was  called  to  make  the  preliminary  arrange 
ments  for  the  dinner,  and  a  large  committee  was  appointed  for  that 
purpose. 

In  the  performance  of  their  duty  the  following  letter  was  addressed 
by  the  committee  to  Mr.  Webster  :  — 

"  Philadelphia,  April  27,  1846. 

"  DEAR  SIR,  —  Your  fellow-citizens  of  this  city,  desirous  of  express 
ing  their  friendly  regard  and  admiration  of  your  services  to  your  coun 
try,  tender  to  you  a  public  dinner,  to  be  given  at  a  time  the  most  con 
venient  to  yourself. 

"  Nearly  all  who  offer  this  mark  of  esteem  are  men  of  business,  re 
moved  from  the  party  strifes  of  the  country,  though  deeply  interested  and 
affected  in  all  their  relations  by  the  action  and  agitation  of  party.  With 
these  your  'name  has  long  been  associated  as  one  of  those  whose  ad 
vice,  whether  heeded  or  not,  whose  abilities,  whether  successfully  exert 
ed  or  not,  were  always  directed  towards  the  advancement  of  their  inter 
ests,  and  the  promotion  of  their  prosperity.  They  offer  to  you  this  to 
ken  of  respect,  not  only  as  an  evidence  of  personal  esteem,  but  as  a 
mark  of  sincere  and  grateful  feeling. 

"  But,  in  this  expression  of  regard,  they  will  not  limit  themselves  to 
what  may  be  considered  as  more  peculiarly  their  own  interests.  As 
members  of  this  great  republic,  they  desire  in  this  way  to  express  their 
approbation  and  pride  in  those  efforts  that  have  multiplied  and  strength 
ened  our  ties  with  the  family  of  nations ;  that  have  increased  and  made 
more  stable,  as  well  as  intimate,  our  own  national  sympathies  •  and 

*  Abridged  from  the  account  contained  in  the  Introduction  to  the  original 
pamphlet  edition  of  the  following  speech. 


4          Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

which,  by  extending  your  reputation,  have  given  credit  and  fame  to 
your  country. 

"  None  cherish  with  more  interest  these,  the  lasting  memorials  that 
you  have  given  of  your  patriotism  and  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  your 
fellow-citizens,  than  those  who  now  tender  this  token  of  their  esteem. 
"  We  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the  highest  respect, 
"  Your  friends  and  fellow-citizens, 

"ALFRED  L.  ELWYN,  HENRY  WHITE, 

CHARLES  W.  CHURCHMAN,  JACOB  M.  THOMAS, 

DAVID  S.  BROWN,  GEORGE  McCLELLAND, 

JOHN  S.  RIDDLE,  ISAAC  R.  DAVIS, 

FREDERICK  FRALEY,  WILLIAM  D.  LEWIS, 

JOHN  ASHHURST,  JOHN  RICE, 

ALEXANDER  H.  FREEMAN,  WILLIAM  E.  WHELAN, 

JOSEPH  B.  MYERS,  JOHN  H.  MARTIN, 

SINGLETON  A.  MERCER,  JOHN  McCANDLESS, 

THOMAS  CHAMBERS,  THOMAS  SMITH, 

SAMPSON  TAMS,  WILLIAM  STRUTHERS." 
DANIEL  HADDOCK,  JR., 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Webster  made  the  following  reply  in  acceptance  of 
the  invitation :  — 

"  Washington,  May  1,  1846. 

"  GENTLEMEN,  —  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  communication  of  the  27th  of  April,  inviting  me  to  a  public  din 
ner  in  Philadelphia. 

"  The  character  of  this  invitation,  as  well  as  the  friendly  manner  in 
which  it  is  expressed,  give  it  a  peculiar  claim  on  my  regard,  and  render 
it  indeed,  on  my  part,  not  easy  to  be  declined. 

"  You  describe  those  whom  you  represent,  or  who  join  you  in  this 
mark  of  respect,  as  '  men  of  business,  removed  from  the  party  strifes 
of  the  country,  though  deeply  affected  and  interested  in  all  their  rela 
tions  by  the  action  and  agitation  of  party  movements.' 

"  I  deem  it  a  high  honor,  Gentlemen,  to  be  requested  by  such  men  to 
accept  a  mark  of  their  esteem ;  and  when  my  public  duties  shall  allow, 
I  will  gladly  meet  you  and  your  friends  on  such  day  as  may  suit  your 
convenience. 

"  We  are  in  the  midst  of  all  the  business  of  one  of  the  most  impor 
tant  sessions  of  Congress  which  have  been  held  under  the  Constitu 
tion.  During  its  continuance  I  shall  hardly  be  able  to  leave  the  duties 
of  my  place,  even  for  a  few  days  ;  but  after  its  conclusion,  if  you  will 
allow  me,  I  will  confer  with  you  upon  the  time  for  carrying  your  very 
respectful  purpose  into  effect. 

"  I  am,  Gentlemen,  with  entire  regard, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

"  To  MESSRS.  A.  L.  ELWYN,  C.  W.  CHURCHMAN,  D.  S.  BROWN,  and 
other  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee." 

Mr.  Webster's  duties  at  Washington  prevented  this  invitation  from 
taking  immediate  effect,  and  other  causes  of  delay  occurring,  the  dinner 
was  postponed  till  the  2d  of  December,  when  it  took  place  in  the  great 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia          5 

saloon  of  the  Museum  Building.  Every  arrangement  was  made  to  give 
the  most  imposing  and  agreeable  effect  to  the  festival.  Preparation 
was  made  for  the  reception  of  a  very  large  company,  consisting  of  the 
subscribers  to  the  dinner,  and  of  guests  particularly  invited  from  the 
principal  neighboring  cities  of  the  Union.  The  entertainment  was  of 
the  most  liberal  description.  The  hall  and  the  tables  were  richly  and 
tastefully  decorated.  Wreaths,  banners,  arches,  vases,  and  flowers, 
skilfully  disposed,  met  the  eye  in  every  direction  ;  and  before  the  speak 
ing  commenced,  the  galleries  were  filled  with  ladies. 

The  Hon.  Samuel  Breck  presided  at  the  table,  and,  after  one  or  two 
patriotic  sentiments,  addressed  the  company  as  follows :  — 

"  Gentlemen,  —  I  rise  to  propose  a  toast,  expressive  of  the  great 
esteem  and  honor  in  which  we  hold  the  illustrious  guest  whom  we  are 
assembled  to  welcome.  It  is  cause  for  felicitation  to  have  this  oppor 
tunity  to  receive  him,  and  to  meet  him  at  our  festive  board. 

"  In  Philadelphia,  we  have  long  been  accustomed  to  follow  him,  with 
earnest  attention,  in  his  high  vocations  in  the  legislative  hall  and  in  the 
Cabinet ;  and  have  always  seen  him  there  exercising  his  great  talents 
for  the  true  interests  of  our  wide-spread  republic.  And  we,  in  com 
mon  with  the  American  people,  have  felt  the  influence  of  his  wisdom 
and  patriotism.  In  seasons  of  danger,  he  has  been  to  us  a  living  com 
forter  ;  and  more  than  once  has  restored  this  nation  to  serenity,  security, 
and  prosperity. 

"  In  a  career  of  more  than  thirty  years  of  political  agitation,  he,  with 
courageous  constancy,  unwavering  integrity,  and  eminent  ability,  has 
carried  out,  as  far  as  his  agency  could  prevail,  the  true  principles  of  the 
American  system  of  government. 

"  For  his  numerous  public  services  we  owe  him  much,  and  we  open 
our  grateful  hearts  to  him  in  thanks ;  we  say  to  him,  with  feelings  of 
profound  respect  and  warm  affection,  that  we  are  rejoiced  at  his  pres 
ence  here,  amid  his  Philadelphia  friends, —  his  faithful  Philadelphia 
friends  and  admirers. 

"  I  offer  you  the  health  of 

"  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  —  the  faithful  representative,  the  able  negotia 
tor,  the  fearless  statesman,  the  eloquent  Defender  of  the  Constitution. 
His  patriotic  services  demand  our  gratitude,  his  untarnished  honor  is 
the  nation's  property." 

Mr.  Breck,  while  making  these  remarks,  was  frequently  interrupted 
by  the  cheers  of  the  audience  ;  and  when  at  the  close  he  introduced 
their  distinguished  guest,  the  most  enthusiastic  acclamations  burst  forth 
from  the  whole  company.  A  considerable  time  elapsed  before  the 
excited  feelings  of  the  occasion  were  sufficiently  subdued,  to  allow  the 
voice  of  the  orator  to  be  heard  in  reply.  When  silence  was  at  length 
restored,  Mr  Webster  delivered  the  following  speech. 


6          Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

It  seems  proper  to  state,  that,  owing  to  the  length  of  this  speech,  and 
the  eagerness  of  the  public  to  possess  it  without  delay,  it  appears  to  have 
been  written  off  from  the  reporter's  notes  with  haste,  and  to  have  re 
ceived  very  little,  if  any,  revision  from  the  author.  It  is  evident  that 
portions  of  it  are  presented  in  a  fragmentary  form. 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia' 


MR.  CHAIRMAN,  —  It  is  my  duty,  in  the  first  place,  to  express 
the  uncommon  emotions  which  I  feel  in  rising  to  discuss  im 
portant  subjects  in  a  presence  like  this.  It  has  not  been  my 
fortune,  heretofore,  to  enter  upon  such  a  duty  as  is  now  before 
me,  while  galleries  like  these  have  been  filled  by  an  assem 
blage  of  the  worth  and  beauty  of  the  sex.  Gentlemen,  I  come 
among  you  to  address  you  as  men  of  business  of  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  men  engaged  in  the  honorable  pursuits  of  private 
life,  and  having  no  other  interest  in  the  political  events  and  oc 
currences  of  the  day,  than  as  the  course  and  acts  of  govern 
ment  affect  life  and  liberty,  property  and  industry.  You  are 
merchants,  you  are  therefore  deeply  concerned  in  the  peace  of 
the  country,  and  in  whatever  respects  its  commercial  prosperity. 
You  are  manufacturers,  mechanics,  artisans ;  you  have  an  inter 
est,  therefore,  in  all  those  wise  laws  which  protect  capital  and 
labor  thus  employed,  all  those  laws  which  shed  their  benign 
influence  over  the  industrial  pursuits  of  human  life.  You  are 
holders  of  city  property,  many  of  you  are  landholders  in  the 
country,  many  of  you  are  occupiers  and  cultivators  of  your 
own  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city.  Finally,  I  know  you 
are  all  Americans,  you  are  all  members  of  this  great  and  glo 
rious  republic,  bound  to  its  destiny,  partaking  of  all  the  hap 
piness  which  its  government  is  calculated  to  afford,  and  inter 
ested  in  every  thing  that  respects  its  present  prospects  and  its 
future  renown. 

I  am  honored,  Gentlemen,  by  an  invitation  to  address  such  an 

*  A  Speech  delivered  at  a  Great  Public  Dinner,  given  to  Mr.  Webster  at  Phil 
adelphia,  on  the  2d  of  December,  1846,  Hon.  Samuel  Breck  in  the  Chair 


8          Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

assemblage  of  my  fellow-citizens.  I  will  say  that  it  is  always 
agreeable  to  me  to  speak,  and  to  think,  upon  great  questions 
respecting  our  political  institutions,  their  progress  and  their  re 
sults,  in  this  city  of  Philadelphia.  With  no  habits  of  public  life 
but  such  as  have  connected  me  with  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  accustomed  somewhat  to  study  its  history  and 
its  principles,  and  called  upon  now,  for  some  years,  to  take  a 
part  in  its  administration,  so  far  as  the  action  of  Congress  is 
concerned,  it  is  natural  that  I  should  look  back  to  the  origin  of 
that  independence  from  which  the  Constitution  sprung,  and 
to  the  Constitution  itself  out  of  which  the  government  now 
established  over  us  arose.  These  reflections  bring  with  them 
agreeable  local  associations.  The  independence  of  our  country 
was  declared  in  yonder  hall,  the  Constitution  was  framed,  also, 
within  the  same  venerable  walls ;  and  when  one  to  whom  that 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  that  Constitution  are  objects 
of  the  highest  human  regard  enters  that  hall,  it  is  natural  that  he 
should  gather  around  him,  in  imagination,  the  great  men,  the 
illustrious  sages,  who  filled  it  on  those  successive  occasions. 
They  are  all  gone  to  their  graves.  But  they  have  left  their 
works  behind  them,  as  imperishable  memorials  of  their  wisdom. 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  is,  in  all  respects,  much  connected 
with  the  history  of  our  country.  She  is,  in  all  respects,  inter 
ested  in  what  affects  the  weal  or  woe  of  the  republic.  Her 
position  along  the  line  of  the  coast  is  central  and  important,  her 
population  is  large,  the  occupations  of  her  people  are  various ; 
she  is  the  capital  of  the  great  State  of  Pennsylvania,  not  im 
properly  called  the  "  KEYSTONE  "  of  the  arch  of  this  Union. 

Gentlemen,  some  years  ago,  in  addressing  a  public  meeting  in 
the  neighborhood  of  this  city,  I  said,  what  I  believed  and  now 
believe,  that,  with  the  exception  of  England,  perhaps  there  is  no 
spot  upon  the  globe  so  abounding  in  natural  riches  as  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania.  She  enjoys  a  mild  and  delightful  climate,  a 
rich  and  exuberant  soil,  certainly  one  of  the  best  in  the  world, 
with  mineral  wealth  beyond  calculation.  I  know  no  portion  of 
the  globe  that  can  go  beyond  her  in  any  just  statement  of  nat 
ural  advantages,  and  of  productive  power.  Pennsylvania,  too, 
Gentlemen,  is  concerned  in  every  interest  that  belongs  to  the 
country.  On  her  eastern  boundary  she  touches  the  tide-waters 
of  the  Atlantic,  on  her  western  border  she  reaches  to  the  great 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia          9 

river  which  carries,  westward  and  southward,  her  products  raised 
beyond  the  Alleghanies  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Thus  she  is 
open  to  the  Gulf  on  the  south  and  west,  and  to  the  ocean  on 
the  east.  Her  position  is  central,  her  population  is  numerous. 
If  she  chooses  to  say  that  she  will  connect  the  navigable  waters 
which  flow  into  the  Gulf  with  the  navigable  waters  of  the  At 
lantic,  she  can  do  it  without  trespassing  on  any  stranger's  terri 
tory.  It  is  with  her  a  family  affair.  She  has  made  one  line  of 
communication,  she  can  make  another,  and  as  many  as  she 
pleases,  to  wed  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  with  those  of  the  Atlantic. 

Gentlemen,  I  cannot  help  thinkine  that  what  Pennsylvania 
is,  and  that  greater  which  Pennsylvania  is  to  be,  is  and  will  be 
mainly  owing  to  the  constitutional  government  under  which  we 
live.  I  would  not  regard  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
nor  any  other  work  of  man,  with  idolatrous  admiration ;  but, 
this  side  of  idolatry,  I  hold  it  in  profound  respect.  I  believe 
that  no  human  working  on  such  a  subject,  no  human  ability  ex 
erted  for  such  an  end,  has  ever  produced  so  much  happiness,  or 
holds  out  now  to  so  many  millions  of  people  the  prospect, 
through  such  a  succession  of  ages  and  ages,  of  so  much  happi 
ness,  as  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  We  who  are 
here  for  one  generation,  for  a  single  life,  and  yet,  in  our  several 
stations  and  relations  in  society,  intrusted,  in  some  degree,  with 
its  protection  and  support,  —  what  duty  does  it  devolve,  —  what 
duty  does  it  not  devolve  upon  us ! 

Gentlemen,  there  were  those  in  the  country  at  the  time  the 
Constitution  was  adopted  who  did  not  approve  it.  Some  feared 
it  from  an  excessive  jealousy  of  power;  others,  for  various 
causes,  disliked  it.  The  great  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  however,  adopted  it,  and  placed  Washington  at 
the  head  of  the  first  administration  of  the  government.  This 
Constitution,  fairly  expounded  and  justly  interpreted,  is  the  bond 
of  our  Union.  Those  who  opposed  it  were  all  bound,  in  honor 
and  justice,  to  follow  the  example  of  Patrick  Henry,  who  him 
self  opposed  it,  but  who,  when  it  had  been  adopted,  took  it  in 
the  fulness  of  its  spirit,  and  to  the  highest  extent  of  its  honest 
interpretation.  It  was  not,  then,  fair  for  those  who  had  opposed 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  to  come  in  under  it  afterwards, 
and  attempt  to  fritter  away  its  provisions  because  they  disliked 
them.  The  people  had  adopted  the  instrument  as  it  stood,  and 


io        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

they  were  bound  by  it,  in  its  fair  and  full  construction  and  inter 
pretation.  For  the  same  reason,  Gentlemen,  those  called  upon 
to  exercise  high  functions  under  the  Constitution,  in  our  day, 
may  think  that  they  could  have  made  a  better  one.  It  may  be 
the  misfortune  of  the  age  of  our  fathers,  that  they  had  not  the 
intelligence  of  this  age.  These  persons  may  think  that  they 
could  have  made  it  much  better,  —  that  this  thing  and  that 
ought  not  to  have  been  put  in  it,  and  therefore  they  will  try  to 
get  them  out  of  it.  That  is  not  fair.  Every  man  that  is  called 
upon  to  administer  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  or 
act  under  it  in  any  respect,  is  bound,  in  honor,  and  faith,  and 
duty,  to  take  it  in  its  ordinary  acceptation,  and  to  act  upon  it  as 
it  was  understood  by  those  who  framed  it,  and  received  by  the 
people  when  they  adopted  it ;  and  as  it  has  been  practised  upon 
since,  through  all  administrations  of  the  government. 

It  may  have  happened,  I  think  it  has  happened,  on  more 
than  one  occasion,  that  the  spirit  of  this  instrument  has  been 
departed  from;  that  serious  violations  of  that  spirit  have  tak 
en  place.  What  of  that?  Are  we  to  abandon  it  on  that  ac 
count?  Are  we  to  abandon  it?  Why,  I  should  as  soon 
think  of  abandoning  my  own  father  when  ruffians  attacked  him ! 
No !  we  are  to  rally  around  it  with  all  our  power  and  ah1  our 
force,  determined  to  stand  by  it,  or  fall  with  it.  What  was  the 
conduct  of  the  great  lovers  of  liberty  in  the  early  periods  of 
English  history  ?  They  wrested  from  a  reluctant  monarch,  King 
John,  a  great  charter.  The  crown  afterwards  violated  that 
charter.  What  did  they  then  do?  They  remonstrated,  they 
resisted,  they  reasserted,  they  reenforced  it ;  and  that,  Gentle 
men,  is  what  we  are  to  do. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  never  felt  more  interested,  I  may  say  never 
so  much  interested,  in  the  course  of  my  public  life,  as  during 
some  periods  of  the  last  session  of  Congress.  I  could  not  but 
feel  that  we  were  in  the  midst  of  most  important  events.  It 
was  my  purpose,  towards  the  close  of  the  session,  to  consider 
with  some  care  the  acts  of  Congress,  and  the  course  of  the  ad 
ministration  during  that  session,  and  to  express  my  opinions  on 
them,  in  my  place  in  the  Senate.  It  so  happened,  however,  that, 
in  the  fleeting  hours  of  the  last  week  of  the  session,  no  oppor 
tunity  was  offered ;  and  I  therefore  announced  a  purpose  of  tak 
ing  some  occasion  before  the  public  of  reviewing  the  acts  of 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        n 

Congress  during  the  last  session,  and  of  making  such  comments 
upon  them  as,  in  my  humble  judgment,  they  deserved.  The 
present  may  be  a  proper  occasion  for  fulfilling  that  duty.  But 
my  purpose  has  been  so  long  deferred,  that  it  has  been  antici 
pated.  Other  commentators  have  arisen,  more  effective  and 
authoritative  than  I,  and  they  have  expressed  their  opinions  upon 
the  conduct  of  the  last  session  of  Congress,  with  an  emphasis 
which  must  have  penetrated  the  dullest  perception. 

Gentlemen,  the  political  events  that  have  occurred  in  the 
country  since  the  termination  of  the  session  have  impressed  me 
with  very  profound  feelings.  The  results  of  the  elections, 
especially  in  the  central  States  on  the  Atlantic,  while  they  have 
awakened  new  hopes  and  new  prospects,  have  been,  neverthe 
less,  of  a  nature  to  excite  emotions  far  too  deep  to  be  expressed 
in  any  evanescent  glow  of  party  feeling.  It  appears  to  me 
quite  plain,  that  no  such  revolution  of  public  opinion  as  we 
have  now  witnessed  has  happened  in  this  country  before,  for 
nearly  fifty  years.  I  may  confine  my  remarks,  in  this  respect, 
to  those  two  great  States,  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.  When 
has  such  a  change  of  public  sentiment  been  manifested  before, 
in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  since  the  great  controversy  of 
1799  and  1800  ?  At  that  period,  a  very  strong  political  dispute 
was  carried  on  in  this  city,  as  well  as  elsewhere  throughout  the 
State,  of  which  controversy  the  election  between  Governor 
McKean  and  Mr.  Ross  was  one  part  and  one  element.  The 
former  was  elected,  and  certain  highly  important  political  results 
followed.  Since  that  time,  no  such  entire  revolution  of  popular 
sentiment,  in  regard  to  questions  connected  with  the  general 
government,  as  that  witnessed  within  the  last  year,  has  taken 
place  in  Pennsylvania.  I  may  say  the  same,  in  substance,  ] 
believe,  of  New  York.  Since  the  time  of  the  great  controversy 
in  that  State  about  the  same  period,  I  know  of  no  change  of 
sentiment  in  New  York  of  such  magnitude,  and  which  has 
taken  every  body  so  much  by  surprise.  At  the  same  time,  it  is 
quite  manifest  that  these  changes  have  not  been  produced  by 
effort.  The  country  has  been  calm,  the  public  mind  serene. 
There  have  been  no  mass  meetings,  no  extraordinary  efforts 
of  the  press,  no  great  attempts  of  any  kind  to  influence  men's 
opinions.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  most  remarkable  circum 
stance  connected  with  the  occurrence  is  the  spontaneous,  self- 


12         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

moved,  conscientious  conviction  and  feeling  of  the  people,  pro 
ducing  this  great  result. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  the  question  is,  What  is  this  revolution? 
What  is  its  character?  For  whom,  and  against  whom,  for 
what,  and  against  what,  has  it  taken  place  ? 

Gentlemen,  I  intend  to  perform  the  duty  before  me  this  even 
ing,  without  denunciation,  without  vituperation;  I  intend  to 
avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  all  reflections  upon  men,  and  all  unjust 
reflections  upon  parties.  But  it  does  appear  to  me  as  clear  as 
the  light  of  noonday,  that  the  revolution  which  has  now  taken 
place  in  the  country,  in  public  sentiment,  is  a  revolution  against 
the  measures  and  the  principles  of  this  now  existing  administra 
tion.  It  is  against  the  manner  in  which  this  war  with  Mexico 
has  been  brought  on.  (Loud  cries  of  "  You  're  right ! "  "  You  're 
right!"  and  great  applause.)  It  is  against  the  tariff  of  1846. 
(Deafening  applause.)  It  is  against  that  absurdity  of  all  ab 
surdities,  the  sub-treasury  bill.  (Shouts  of  laughter.)  It  is 
against  the  duplicate  vetoes.  (Great  applause.) 

Gentlemen,  the  present  administration  is  not  regarded  as  the 
just  representative  or  the  regular  successor  of  any  administra 
tion.  In  its  principles  and  in  its  measures,  it  certainly  does  not 
resemble  the  administration  of  General  Jackson,  or  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  and  most  certainly  it  resembles  no  other.  Now  we 
must  be  just,  we  must  be  just  to  those  who,  in  time  past,  have 
differed  from  us.  We  must,  in  some  measure,  forget  the  things 
which  are  behind.  I  take  this  to  be  the  truth,  that  this  admin 
istration  has  adopted  a  system  of  its  own,  and  measures  of  its 
own,  and  assumed  a  character  of  its  own,  distinct  and  separate 
from  what  was  the  character  of  all  preceding  administrations. 
I  take  it  to  be  for  that  reason,  that  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
our  fellow-citizens  in  this  State  and  in  other  States,  who  were 
supporters  of  General  Jackson's  administration  and  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  administration,  repudiate  this  administration.  1  think, 
therefore,  that  this  administration  stands  alone,  I  will  not  say  in 
its  glory,  but  certainly  in  its  measures  and  its  policy.  I  think  it 
is  certain,  that  the  sober-minded  and  intelligent  portion  of  the 
community  who  have  heretofore  sustained  what  has  been  called 
the  Democratic  party  have  found  that  this  administration  of 
Mr.  Polk  either  adopts  new  measures,  not  before  known  to  the 
party,  or  has  carried  the  sentiments  of  the  party  hitherto  re- 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        13 

ceived  and  expressed  to  such  extremes,  that  it  is  impossible  for 
honest  and  just  men  to  follow  it;  and  that  therefore  they  have 
come  out,  laying  aside  the  natural  reluctance  which  men  feel  in 
acting  against  the  party  of  their  friends,  —  they  have  come  out, 
nevertheless,  and  in  order  to  manifest  their  disapprobation  of  the 
principles  and  measures  of  this  administration,  they  have  flocked 
to  the  polls  by  thousands,  and  given  plumpers  to  Whig  candi 
dates.  Now,  are  they  right  in  this  ?  Are  they  right  in  suppos 
ing  that  this  administration  has  adopted  new  doctrines,  or  car 
ried  old  doctrines  to  extremes  ?  Gentlemen,  it  is  perfectly  evi 
dent  to  me  that  they  are  right ;  that  on  questions  of  vital  inter 
est  to  these  central  States,  and  to  all  the  States,  the  principles 
and  measures  of  the  present  administration  are  marked  depart 
ures  from  the  principles  and  measures  of  General  Jackson. 

I  will,  with  your  permission  and  patience,  illustrate  this  sen 
timent  by  one  or  two  instances,  beginning  with  that  of  the  pro 
tective  policy  of  the  country. 

It  seems  to  me  almost  too  light  a  question  to  ask,  whether  in 
this  respect  Young  Hickory  is  like  Old  Hickory.  But  it  is  a 
great  question  to  be  put  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and 
which  has  been  put,  and  which  they  have  answered,  whether 
the  principles  of  the  present  administration,  in  regard  to  the 
protective  policy  of  the  country,  are  or  are  not  entire  depart 
ures  from  the  principles  of  Andrew  Jackson.  I  say  they  are. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  not  been  an  advocate  of  the  policy  of 
General  Jackson.  We  all  know  that  he  was  a  man  of  decided 
and  strong  character.  For  one,  I  believe  that  in  general  his 
wishes  were  all  for  the  happiness  and  glory  of  the  country. 
He  thought,  perhaps,  that,  to  establish  that  happiness  and  per 
fect  that  glory,  it  was  incumbent  on  him  to  exert  a  little 
more  power  than  I  believed  the  Constitution  gave  him.  But  I 
never  doubted  that  he  meant  well ;  and  that,  while  he  sought  to 
establish  his  own  glory  and  renown,  he  intended  to  connect 
them  with  the  glory  and  renown  of  the  whole  country. 

Gentlemen,  after  the  passage  of  what  is  called,  or  has  been 
called,  the  Compromise  Act  of  1833,  no  great  agitation  arose  on 
the  tariff  subject  until  the  expiration,  or  near  the  expiration,  of 
the  period  prescribed  by  that  act.  Within  that  time,  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  administration  began,  went  through,  and  terminated. 
The  circumstances  of  the  country,  therefore,  and  the  business 


14        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

presented  to  the  consideration  of  the  President  and  Congress, 
did  not  call  on  Mr.  Van  Buren,  during  his  Presidency,  to  express 
an  opinion,  in  any  particular  or  formal  manner,  respecting  the 
protective  policy. 

But  I  will  now  compare  the  opinions  and  principles  ol  the 
present  President  of  the  United  States,  as  expressed  by  him  offi 
cially,  with  the  principles  and  opinions  of  General  Jackson  dur 
ing  his  Presidency,  as  expressed  by  him  officially.  I  begin, 
Gentlemen,  by  reading  to  you  what  Mr.  Polk  says  upon  this 
subject  of  protection,  in  his  message  at  the  commencement  of 
the  last  session  of  Congress,  being  his  first  annual  message.  It 
will  require  some  attention  from  you,  Gentlemen.  I  hope  you 
will  not  think  me  presuming  too  much  upon  your  patience. 

Hear,  then,  what  Mr.  Polk  says  in  his  message  of  last  Decem 
ber,  on  the  opening  of  Congress :  — 

"  The  object  of  imposing  duties  on  imports  should  be  to  raise  reve 
nue  to  pay  the  necessary  expenses  of  government.  Congress  may,  un 
doubtedly,  in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  discretion,  discriminate  in  arrang 
ing  the  rates  of  duty  on  different  articles  ;  but  the  discriminations  should 
be  within  the  revenue  standard,  and  be  made  with  a  view  to  raise  money 
for  the  support  of  government. 

"  If  Congress  levy  a  duty,  for  revenue,  of  one  per  cent,  on  a  given 
article,  it  will  produce  a  given  amount  of  money  to  the  treasury,  and 
will,  incidentally  and  necessarily,  afford  protection  or  advantage  to  the 
amount  of  one  per  cent,  to  the  home  manufacturer  of  a  similar  or  like 
article  over  the  importer.  If  the  duty  be  raised  to  ten  per  cent.,  it  will 
produce  a  greater  amount  of  money,  and  afford  greater  protection.  If 
it  be  raised  to  twenty,  twenty-five,  or  thirty  per  cent.,  and  if,  as  it  is 
raised,  the  revenue  derived  from  it  is  found  to  be  increased,  the  protec 
tion  and  advantage  will  also  be  increased,  but  if  it  be  raised  to  thirty-one 
per  cent.,  and  it  is  found  that  the  revenue  produced  at  that  rate  is  less 
than  at  the  rate  of  thirty,  it  ceases  to  be  revenue  duty.  The  precise 
point  in  the  ascending  scale  of  duties,  at  which  it  is  ascertained  from 
experience  that  the  revenue  is  greatest,  is  the  maximum  rate  of  duty 
which  can  be  laid  for  the  bond  Jide  purpose  of  collecting  money  for  the 
support  of  the  government." 

Now,  Gentlemen,  there  are  those  who  find  difficulty  in  un 
derstanding  exactly  what  Mr.  Polk  means  by  the  "  revenue 
standard."  Perhaps  this  is  not  entirely  plain.  But  one  thing 
is  clear,  whatever  else  he  may  or  may  not  mean,  he  means  to  be 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        15 

against  all  protection.  He  means  that  the  sole  and  exclusive 
object  to  be  regarded  by  the  legislator,  in  imposing  duties  on  in> 
ports,  is  to  obtain  money  for  the  revenue.  That  is  to  be  the 
only  thing  aimed  at.  He  says,  truly,  that  if  a  duty  be  laid  on 
an  imported  article,  an  incidental  benefit  may  accrue  to  the  pro 
ducer  of  a  like  article  at  home.  But  then  this  is  incidental ;  it 
is  altogether  adventitious,  an  accident,  a  collateral  or  consequen 
tial  result.  It  is  not  a  matter  to  be  taken  into  the  view  of  the 
law-makers.  It  is  to  form  no  part  of  their  purpose  in  framing 
or  passing  the  law.  That  purpose  is  to  be  confined  altogether 
to  the  inquiry  after  that  "  maximum  rate  of  duty  which  can  be 
laid  for  the  bond  fide  purpose  of  collecting  money  for  the  support 
of  the  government." 

This  is  his  doctrine,  as  plain  as  words  can  make  it.  It  is  to 
lay  such  duties  as  may  be  most  beneficial  to  revenue,  and  noth 
ing  but  revenue ;  and  if,  in  raising  a  revenue  duty,  it  shall  hap 
pen  that  domestic  manufactures  are  protected,  why  that  's  all 
very  well.  But  the  protection  of  domestic  manufactures  is  not 
to  be  any  object  of  concern,  nor  to  furnish  any  motive,  to  those 
who  make  the  law.  I  think  I  have  not  misrepresented  Mr.  Polk. 
I  think  his  meaning  is  sufficiently  plain,  and  is  precisely  as  I 
state  it.  Indeed,  I  have  given  you  his  own  words.  He  would 
not,  himself,  deny  the  meaning  of  his  words,  as  I  have  stated  it. 
He  is  for  laying  taxes  for  revenue,  and  for  revenue  alone,  just  as 
if  there  were  no  iron  manufactures,  or  other  manufactures,  in  the 
United  States.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  Mr.  Polk. 

Now,  was  this  General  Jackson's  doctrine  ?  Was  it  ever  his 
doctrine?  Let  us  see.  I  read  you  an  extract  from  General 
Jackson's  first  message.  He  says :  — 

"  The  general  rule  to  be  applied  in  graduating  the  duties  upon  articles 
of  foreign  growth  or  manufacture  is  that  which  will  place  our  own  in 
fair  competition  with  those  of  other  countries ;  and  the  inducements  to 
advance  even  a  step  beyond  this  point  are  controlling,  in  regard  to  those 
articles  which  are  of  primary  necessity  in  time  of  war." 

What  is  this  doctrine  ?  Does  it  not  say  in  so  many  words, 
that,  in  imposing  duties  upon  articles  of  foreign  manufactures, 
it  is  the  business  of  the  framers  of  the  law  to  lay  such  duties, 
and  to  lay  them  in  such  a  way,  as  shall  give  our  own  producers 
a  fair  competition  against  the  foreign  producer  ?  And  does  not 


1 6        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

General  Jackson  go  further,  and  say,  —  and  you,  Pennsylvanians, 
from  here  to  Pittsburg,  and  all  you  workers  in  iron  and  owners 
of  iron  mines,  may  consider  it,  —  does  he  not  go  further,  and  say, 
that,  in  regard  to  articles  of  primary  importance,  in  time  of  war- 
we  are  under  controlling  reasons  for  going  a  step  farther,  and 
putting  down  foreign  competition  ?  Now,  I  submit  to  you,  Gen 
tlemen,  instead  of  putting  down  foreign  competition,  is  not  the 
tariff  of  1846  calculated  to  put  down  our  own  competition  ? 

But  I  will  read  to  you,  Gentlemen,  an  extract  from  General 
Jackson's  second  message,  which,  in  my  opinion,  advances  the 
true  doctrine,  the  true  American  constitutional  rule  and  princi 
ple,  fully,  clearly,  admirably. 

"  The  power  to  impose  duties  on  imports  originally  belonged  to  the 
several  States  ;  the  right  to  adjust  those  duties,  with  the  view  to  the  en 
couragement  of  domestic  branches  of  industry,  is  so  completely  identi 
cal  with  that  power,  that  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  the  existence  of  the  one 
without  the  other. 

"  The  States  have  delegated  their  whole  authority  over  imports  to  the 
general  government,  without  limitation  or  restriction,  saving  the  very 
inconsiderable  reservation  relating  to  their  inspection  laws.  This  au 
thority  having  thus  entirely  passed  from  the  States,  the  right  to  exercise 
it  for  the  purpose  of  protection  does  not  exist  in  them,  and  consequently 
if  it  be  not  possessed  by  the  general  government,  it  must  be  extinct 
Our  political  system  would  thus  present  the  anomaly  of  a  people  strip 
ped  of  the  right  to  foster  their  own  industry,  and  to  counteract  the  most 
selfish  and  destructive  policy  which  might  be  adopted  by  foreign  na 
tions. 

"  This,  surely,  cannot  be  the  case  ;  this  indispensable  power  thus  sur 
rendered  by  the  States,  must  be  within  the  scope  of  the  authority  on  the 
subject  expressly  delegated  to  Congress. 

"  In  this  conclusion  I  am  confirmed,  as  well  by  the  opinions  of  Presi 
dents  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Monroe,  who  have  each  re 
peatedly  recommended  the  exercise  of  this  right  under  the  Constitution, 
as  by  the  uniform  practice  of  Congress,  the  continued  acquiescence  of 
the  States,  and  the  general  understanding  of  the  people." 

It  appears  to  me,  Gentlemen,  that  these  extracts  from  General 
Jackson's  messages  read  very  differently  from  the  extracts  from 
President  Folk's  message  at  the  opening  of  the  last  session  of 
Congress,  which  I  have  quoted.  I  think  that  his  notion  of  a 
revenue  standard  —  if  President  Polk  means  any  thing  by  it  be- 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        17 

yond  this,  that  it  is  the  sole  business  of  this  government  to  obtain 
as  much  money  as  it  needs,  and  to  obtain  it  in  the  best  way  it 
can,  if  he  means  to  say  that  there  is  any  other  object  belong 
ing  to  the  revenue  standard  which  is  not  incidental,  which  may 
or  may  not  happen  —  is  all  visionary,  vague,  ideal,  and,  when 
touched  by  the  principles  announced  by  General  Jackson,  ex 
plodes  like  gun-cotton.  You  perceive,  Gentlemen,  that  in  his 
message  to  Congress  General  Jackson  addressed  himself  direct 
ly  to  the  object.  He  says,  in  raising  revenues,  consider  that 
your  duty  is  so  to  arrange  duties  on  imports  as  to  give  to  the 
manufacturer  of  the  country  a  fair  competition,  and,  in  certain 
articles,  to  suppress  foreign  competition.  There  is  an  object,  a 
purpose,  a  motive,  in  protection  and  for  protection,  and  it  is  not 
left  to  the  cabalistic  word  "  incidental." 

I  have  said  that  I  believe  that  the  people  of  this  country  see 
the  difference  between  the  principles  of  General  Jackson  and  the 
principles  of  this  administration  on  the  great  subject  of  protec 
tion,  and  I  have  endeavored  to  present  that  difference  plainly, 
and  in  the  very  words  of  each.  I  think  they  see  the  difference, 
also,  upon  other  important  subjects. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  war  with  Mexico.  I  am  accustomed, 
Gentlemen,  to  mix  so  far  as  I  am  able,  and  as  my  circumstances 
will  allow,  with  men  of  all  classes  and  conditions  in  life ;  men 
of  various  political  opinions.  Your  own  avocations  and  con 
cerns  in  life  will  have  led  you  to  do  the  same ;  and  I  now  ask 
you,  if  you  ever  found  a  sensible  and  reasonable  man  who  said 
to  you  that  he  believed  that,  if  General  Jackson  or  Mr.  Van 
Buren  had  been  at  the  head  of  the  government,  we  should  have 
had  this  Mexican  war.  I  have  found  none  such.  Why,  we  all 
know,  Gentlemen,  that  the  President,  —  I  have  not  to  settle  ques 
tions  of  greater  or  less  worth,  or  the  peculiar  claims  between 
members  of  a  party  to  which  I  do  not  belong,  —  but  we  all  know 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Polk  came  into  office  against  Mr.  Van  Buren ; 
that  he  came  in  on  the  Texas  interest  and  for  a  Texas  purpose ; 
and  we  all  know  that  Texas  and  Texas  purposes  have  brought 
on  this  war.  Therefore  I  say,  I  know  no  man  of  intelligence 
and  sound  judgment  who  believes  that,  if  the  Baltimore  Conven 
turn  had  nominated,  and  the  people  elected,  Mr.  Van  Buren  to 
the  Presidency,  we  should  now  have  on  hand  a  Mexican  war. 

The  purpose  of  these  remarks  has  been  to  show  you,  Gentle- 

VOL.  IV.  —  2 


1 8         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

men,  what  I  consider  to  have  been  the  causes  of  the  great 
change  which  has  taken  place  in  public  opinion  itself;  and  it  is 
vain  for  any  body  to  say,  that  any  local  causes  here,  or  local 
causes  there,  have  brought  about  this  result.  That  Anti-rentism 
In  New  York  and  some  other  ism  in  Pennsylvania  have  pro 
duced  such  important  consequences,  it  is  folly  to  say ;  there  is 
nothing  at  all  in  it.  The  test  is  this.  Do  you  say  that  ques 
tions  of  State  policy  or  State  elections  only  have  influenced  this 
result  ?  If  you  say  so,  then  look  at  the  elections  for  members 
of  Congress.  Members  of  Congress  have  nothing  to  do  with 
these  State  questions ;  and  the  truth  is,  that  elections  of  mem 
bers  of  Congress  in  this  State  and  in  New  York  have  been  car 
ried  by  larger  majorities  than  any  other  elections.  These  elec 
tions  have  been  governed  mainly  by  questions  of  national  pol 
icy.  There  were  counties  in  New  York  in  which  there  was  no 
Anti-rentism.  There  were  others  in  which  Anti-rent  influence 
was  as  much  on  one  side  as  the  other.  But  take  the  test  even 
in  regard  to  them.  I  find  it  stated,  and  I  believe  correctly,  that 
Mr.  Fish,  the  Whig  candidate  for  Lieutenant- Governor,  a  most 
respectable  and  honorable  man,  but  certainly  not  a  supporter  of 
those  who  profess  themselves  in  favor  of  Anti-rent  doctrine,  — 
find  it  stated  that  he  obtained  more  votes  for  the  office  of  Lieu 
tenant- Governor  than  Mr.  Wright  received  as  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  Governor.  That  flattering  unction,  therefore, 
gentlemen  cannot  lay  to  themselves.  There  is,  in  truth,  no 
getting  over  the  result  of  the  popular  election,  nor  getting  be 
yond  it,  nor  getting  around  it,  nor  behind  it,  nor  doing  any  thing 
with  it,  but  acknowledging  it  to  be  the  expression  of  public 
opinion  against  the  measures  of  the  present  administration. 

I  proceed  to  make  some  remarks  upon  the  occurrences  of  the 
session,  connected  with  the  previous  course  of  the  administra 
tion,  since  Mr.  Polk  assumed  the  office  of  President. 

The  question  respecting  the  territory  of  Oregon  is  a  settled 
question,  and  all  are  glad  that  it  is  so.  I  am  not  about  to  dis 
turb  it,  nor  do  I  wish  to  revive  discussions  connected  with  it; 
but  in  two  or  three  particulars  it  is  worth  while  to  make  some 
remarks  upon  it. 

By  the  treaty  of  Washington  of  1842,  all  questions  subsist 
ing  between  the  United  States  and  England  were  settled  and 
adjusted,  with  the  exception  of  the  Oregon  controversy.  (Great 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        19 

applause.)  I  must  beg  pardon  for  the  allusion.  I  did  not  mean 
by  any  allusion  of  that  sort  to  give  occasion  for  any  expression 
of  public  feeling  in  connection  with  my  own  services.  As  I 
said,  the  Oregon  question  remained ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark, 
that  its  importance,  and  the  intensity  with  which  it  was  pressed 
upon  the  people  of  the  United  States,  increased  when  every 
other  subject  of  dispute  was  adjusted. 

I  do  not  mention  it  as  a  matter  of  reproach  at  all,  for  I  hold 
every  man,  especially  every  man  in  public  life,  to  have  an  un 
doubted  right  to  the  expression  of  his  own  opinion,  and  to  dis 
charge  his  own  duty  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  con 
science  ;  but  I  hope  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  say,  that,  upon 
his  accession  to  the  Presidential  office,  it  pleased  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  intrust  the  duties  of  the  State  Depart 
ment,  which  has  charge  of  our  foreign  relations,  and  pending 
this  Oregon  controversy,  to  the  hands  of  a  distinguished  gentle 
man,*  who  was  one  of  the  few  who  opposed  —  and  he  did  op 
pose  with  great  zeal  and  all  his  ability  —  the  whole  settlement 
of  1842. 

The  Baltimore  Convention  assembled  in  May,  1844.  One  of 
its  prominent  proceedings  was  the  sentiment  which  it  expressed 
respecting  our  title  to  Oregon.  It  passed  a  resolution  in  these 
memorable  words :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  our  title  to  the  whole  of  the  territory  of  Oregon  is 
clear  and  unquestionable  ;  that  no  part  of  the  same  ought  to  be  ceded  to 
England,  or  any  other  power." 

Mr.  Polk,  in  his  inaugural  address,  makes  the  same  declara 
tion  in  the  very  same  words,  with  marks  of  quotation,  as  if  in 
acknowledgment  of  the  authority  of  the  Convention.  Mr.  Bu 
chanan,  by  direction  of  the  President,  repeats  the  declaration  in 
Ms  letter  to  Mr.  Packenham,  of  the  30th  of  August,  1845 ;  and 
the  President,  in  his  message  to  Congress,  last  December,  hav 
ing  made  some  apology  for  entering  into  a  negotiation  on  the 
basis  of  former  offers  of  this  government,  informs  them,  that  our 
title  to  the  whole  of  Oregon  had  been  asserted  and  maintained, 
as  was  believed,  by  irrefragable  facts  and  arguments.  Through 
all  the  debates  in  the  two  houses,  on  all  occasions,  down  to  the 

*  Mr.  James  Buchanan. 


20        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

day  of  the  treaty,  our  right  to  the  whole  territory  was  pro 
nounced  "  clear  and  unquestionable." 

In  and  out  of  Congress,  the  universal  echo  was,  that  "  our 
title  to  the  whole  of  Oregon  was  clear  and  unquestionable." 
The  Baltimore  resolutions,  in  sentiment  and  in  words,  ran 
through  all  documents,  all  speeches,  and  all  newspapers.  If  you 
knew  what  the  Baltimore  Convention  had  said,  you  knew  what 
all  those  who  were  attached  to  the  party  had  said,  would  say, 
or  might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  said. 

I  remember,  Gentlemen,  that  when  I  was  at  school  I  felt  ex 
ceedingly  obliged  to  Homer's  messengers  for  the  exact  literal 
fidelity  with  which  they  delivered  their  messages.  The  seven 
or  eight  lines  of  good  Homeric  Greek  in  which  they  had  re 
ceived  the  commands  of  Agamemnon  or  Achilles,  they  recited 
to  whomsoever  the  message  was  to  be  carried ;  and  as  they  re 
peated  them  verbatim,  sometimes  twice  or  thrice,  it  saved  me 
the  trouble  of  learning  so  much  more  Greek. 

Any  body  who  attended  the  Baltimore  Convention,  and  heard 
this  resolution,  would,  in  like  manner,  be  familiar  with  what 
was  to  come,  and  prepared  to  hear  again  of  "  our  clear  and  un 
questionable  title." 

Nevertheless,  Gentlemen,  the  clearness  of  the  title  was  a  good 
deal  questioned  by  a  distinguished  gentleman  from  Missouri 
(Mr.  Benton),  and  the  end  was,  I  think,  a  just  and  satisfactory 
settlement  of  the  question  by  division  of  the  Territory ;  forty-nine 
carrying  it  against  fifty-four  forty.*  Now,  Gentlemen,  the  re 
markable  characteristic  of  the  settlement  of  this  Oregon  ques 
tion  by  treaty  is  this.  In  the  general  operation  of  govern 
ment,  treaties  are  negotiated  by  the  President  and  ratified  by 
the  Senate ;  but  here  is  the  reverse,  —  here  is  a  treaty  negotiated 
by  the  Senate,  and  only  agreed  to  by  the  President.  In  Au 
gust,  1845,  all  effort  of  the  administration  to  settle  the  Oregon 
question  by  negotiation  had  come  to  an  end;  and  I  am  not 
aware  that,  from  that  day  to  the  absolute  signature  of  the  treaty, 
the  administration,  or  its  agents  at  home,  or  its  agents  abroad, 
did  the  least  thing  upon  earth  to  advance  the  negotiation  to 
wards  settlement  in  any  shape  one  single  step ;  and  if  it  had 

*  The  claim  of  the  United  States,  as  asserted  by  President  Polk,  extended 
to  54°  40'  cf  north  latitude  ;  the  49th  degree  was  adopted  as  the  boundary  in  the 
final  arrangement 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        21 

stood  where  they  left  it,  it  would  have  remained  unsettled  at  this 
moment.  But  it  was  settled.  The  discussions  in  Congress, 
the  discussions  on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  the  general  sense 
of  the  community,  all  protested  against  the  iniquity  of  two  of 
the  greatest  nations  of  modern  times  rushing  into  war  and 
shedding  Christian  blood  in  such  a  controversy.  All  enforced 
the  conviction,  that  it  was  a  question  to  be  settled  by  an  equita 
ble  and  fair  consideration,  and  it  was  thus  settled.  And  that 
being  settled,  there  is  only  one  other  topic  connected  with  this 
subject  upon  which  I  will  detain  you  with  any  remarks.  I 
would  not  do  this,  if  I  did  not  think  the  honor  of  the  country 
somewhat  concerned,  and  if  I  did  not  desire  to  express  my  own 
dissatisfaction  with  the  course  of  the  administration. 

What  I  refer  to  is  the  repeated  refusal,  on  the  part  of  the  ad 
ministration,  to  submit  this  question  to  honorable,  fair  arbitra 
tion.  After  the  United  States  government  had  withdrawn  all  its 
offers,  and  the  case  stood  open,  the  British  Minister  at  Wash 
ington,  by  order  of  his  government,  offered  arbitration.  On  the 
27th  of  December,  1845,  Mr.  Packenham  wrote  to  Mr.  Buchanan 
as  follows,  viz. :  — 

"  An  attentive  consideration  of  the  present  state  of  affairs,  with  refer- 
ence  to  the  Oregon  question,  has  determined  the  British  government  to 
instruct  the  undersigned,  her  Britannic  Majesty's  Envoy,  &,c.,  again  to 
represent,  in  pressing  terms,  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the 
expediency  of  referring  the  whole  question  of  an  equitable  division  of 
that  territory  to  the  arbitration  of  some  friendly  sovereign  or  state. 

"  Her  Majesty's  government  deeply  regret  the  failure  of  all  their 
efforts  to  effect  a  friendly  settlement  of  the  conflicting  claims,  by  direct 
negotiation  between  the  two  governments. 

"  They  are  still  persuaded  that  great  advantages  would  have  resulted 
to  both  parties  from  such  a  mode  of  settlement,  had  it  been  practicable ; 
but  there  are  difficulties  now  in  the  way  in  that  course  of  proceeding, 
which  it  might  be  tedious  to  remove,  while  the  importance  of  an  early 
settlement  seems  to  become,  at  each  moment,  more  urgent. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  her  Majesty's  government  think  that  a 
resort  to  arbitration  is  the  most  prudent,  and  perhaps  the  only  feasible 
step  which  could  be  taken,  and  the  best  calculated  to  allay  th^  existing 
effervescence  of  popular  feeling,"  &c. 

To  this  Mr.  Buchanan  replied,  on  the  3d  of  January,  1846, 

that 


22         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

"  This  proposition  assumes  the  fact,  that  the  title  of  Great  Britain  to  3 
portion  of  the  territory  is  valid,  and  thus  takes  for  granted  the  very 
question  in  dispute.  Under  this  proposition,  the  very  terms  of  the  sub 
mission  would  contain  an  express  acknowledgment  of  the  right  of  Great 
Britain  to  a  portion  of  the  territory,  and  would  necessarily  preclude  the 
United  States  from  claiming  the  whole,  before  the  arbitration,  and  this 
too  in  the  face  of  the  President's  assertion  of  the  30th  of  August,  1845, 
made  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  of  the  title  of  the  United  States  to  the 
whole  territory.  This  alone  would  be  deemed  sufficient  reason  for  de 
clining  the  proposition." 

To  remove  this  difficulty,  Mr.  Packenham,  on  the  16th  of  Jan 
uary,  1846,  addressed  Mr.  Buchanan,  to  inquire  "  whether,  sup 
posing  the  British  government  to  entertain  no  objection  to  such 
a  course,  it  would  suit  the  views  of  the  United  States  govern 
ment  to  refer  to  arbitration,  not  (as  has  already  been  proposed), 
the  question  of  an  equitable  partition  of  the  territory,  but  the 
question  of  title  in  either  of  the  two  powers  to  the  whole  terri 
tory  ;  subject,  of  course,  to  the  condition,  that,  if  neither  should 
be  found,  in  the  opinion  of  the  arbitrator,  to  possess  a  complete 
title  to  the  whole  territory,  there  should,  in  that  case,  be  as 
signed  to  each  that  portion  which  would,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
arbitrating  power,  be  called  for  by  a  just  appreciation  of  the  re 
spective  claims  of  each." 

Mr.  Packenham  proposed  a  reference  to  some  friendly  sover 
eign  or  state,  or  "  to  a  mixed  commission  with  an  umpire  ap 
pointed  by  common  consent ;  or,  to  a  board  composed  of  the 
most  distinguished  civilians  and  jurists  of  the  time,  appointed 
in  such  a  manner  as  shall  bring  all  pending  questions  to  the 
decision  of  the  most  enlightened,  impartial,  and  independent 
minds." 

This  proposition,  also,  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  a  note  of  the  4th  of 
February,  declines ;  and  for  thus  refusing  it,  he  says  one  reason 
was  alone  conclusive  on  the  mind  of  the  President,  and  that  was 
"  that  he  does  not  believe  the  territorial  rights  of  this  nation  to 
be  a  proper  subject  of  arbitration." 

Now,  Sir.  how  is  this  ?  What  sort  of  new  doctrine  is  here 
advanced  ?  I  take  it,  that  every  question  of  boundary  is  a  ques 
tion  of  territory,  and  that  from  the  origin  of  our  government, 
from  General  Washington's  time,  under  all  successive  adminis 
trations,  down  to  the  oresent  time,  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        23 

referring  questions  of  boundary  to  arbitration.     The  matters  in 
dispute  with    England,   in   General   Washington's   time,  were 
referred  to  arbitration.     Each  government  appointed  two  com 
missioners;  these  four  were  to  agree  upon  a  fifth,  or  if  they 
could  not  agree,  he  was  to  be  selected  by  lot,  and  the  gov 
ernment  remains  bound  by  their  doings  from  that  day  to  this. 
This  reference  of  disputed  boundaries  to  some  form  of  arbitra 
tion  has  received  the  sanction  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madi 
son,  Jackson,  and  Van  Buren,  and  has  always  been  sanctioned 
by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  and  people.     Now 
comes   President   Polk  and  says  that  no  question  of  territory 
ought  to  be  referred  to  any  arbitration  whatever,  however  con 
stituted.     Well,  what  does  this  lead  to  ?     How  are  disputes  be 
tween  different  governments  to  be  settled  ?     Consider  the  infirm 
ity  of  human  nature.     Two  governments,  like  two  men,  do  not 
see  their  respective  rights  in  the  same  light.     Is  there  no  way  to 
adjust  this  dispute,  but  to  draw  the  sword  ?     Who  does  not  see 
that  this  doctrine  leads  directly  to  the  assertion  of  the  right  of 
the  strongest?     Why,  let  us  suppose  a  question  of  boundary 
between  Russia  and  Sweden.     There  is  a  dispute  about  a  boun 
dary,  or  about  national  territory,  which  is  the  same  thing.     The 
parties  cannot  agree.     His  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  all  the  Rus- 
sias,  holds  his  right  to  the  disputed  territory  to  be  clear  and  un 
questionable.     Sweden  doubts  it,  she  argues  the  question,  she 
puts  forth  her  own  claim.     But  the   Emperor  is  an  inflexible 
fifty-four  forty  man,  and  still  insists  that  his  right  is  clear  and 
unquestionable.      Sweden   then  proposes  arbitration,  either  to 
some  friendly  sovereign,  or  to  a  board  of  intelligent,  indepen 
dent,  and  distinguished  private  individuals.     She  offers  to  bring 
the  matter,  for  decision,  before  the  most  enlightened  minds  of 
the  times.     But  his  Majesty  is  of  opinion,  that  a  question  of 
territory  is  not  to  be  made  the  subject  of  arbitration.     And  what 
then  remains  to  the  weaker  power,  but  submission  or  hopeless 


war : 


Do  not  all  perceive,  that  sentiments  like  these  lead  only  to 
establish  the  right  of  the  strongest?  that  they  withdraw  public 
questions  between  nations  from  all  the  jurisdiction  of  justice, 
and  all  the  authority  of  right,  from  the  control  of  enlightened 
opinion  and  the  general  judgment  of  mankind,  and  leave  them 
entirely  to  the  decision  of  the  longest  sword  ?  I  do  not  think 


24        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

this  correspondence  has  raised  the  character  of  the  United 
States  in  the  estimation  of  the  civilized  world.  Its  spirit  does 
not  partake  of  the  general  spirit  of  the  age.  It  is  at  war  with 
that  spirit,  as  much  as  it  is  at  war  with  all  our  own  history,  from 
1789  to  the  present  day.  The  sense  of  modern  times,  the  law 
of  humanity,  the  honor  of  civilized  states,  and  the  authority  of 
religion,  all  require  that  controversies  of  this  sort,  which  cannot 
be  adjusted  by  the  parties  themselves,  should  be  referred  to  the 
decision  of  some  intelligent  and  impartial  tribunal.  And  now 
that  none  can  doubt  our  ability  and  power  to  defend  and  main 
tain  our  own  rights,  I  wish  that  there  should  be  as  little  doubt 
of  our  justice  and  moderation. 

The  remaining  topic,  and  it  is  one  of  vast  interest,  connected 
with  our  foreign  relations,  is  the  present  war  with  Mexico.  As 
that  is  an  existing  war,  and  as  what  we  all  say,  in  or  out  of  Con 
gress,  will  of  course  be  heard  or  read,  if  thought  worthy  of  being 
read,  in  Mexico,  as  well  as  in  the  United  States,  I  wish,  for  one, 
to  speak  with  caution  and  care,  as  well  as  with  candor,  in  every 
thing  respecting  it.  Nevertheless,  there  are  some  opinions  con 
nected  with  the  history  of  this  case  which  I  sincerely  entertain, 
and  which  I  must  avow.  Allow  me,  therefore,  to  go  back  and 
bring  up  in  short  the  history  of  the  whole  case.  Texas  achieved 
her  independence  of  Mexico  unexpectedly,  by  bravery  and  good 
fortune,  displayed  and  obtained  in  a  single  battle.  Texas  threw 
off  the  dominion  of  Mexico,  and  for  many  years  maintained  a 
government  of  her  own.  Her  independence  was  acknowledged 
by  the  government  of  this  country,  and  by  the  governments  of 
Europe.  Mexico,  nevertheless,  did  not  acknowledge  the  inde 
pendence  of  Texas.  She  made  no  effort,  however,  to  re-subju 
gate  or  re-annex  the  territory  to  herself.  Affairs  remained  in  this 
condition  for  many  years. 

Here  I  am  reminded  of  a  very  strange  state  of  diplomatic 
things  which  existed  in  Washington,  not  long  ago,  growing  out 
of  these  successive  revolutions  which  have  taken  place  in  the 
world  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years.  There  was  at  Wash 
ington  a  representative  of  Texas,  but  Texas  was  not  acknowl 
edged  by  Mexico.  There  was  a  representative  of  Mexico,  but 
Mexico  was  not  recognized  by  Old  Spain.  There  was  a  min 
ister  from  Old  Spain;  but  the  present  dynasty  of  Spain  was 
not  recognized  by  Russia ;  and  there  was  a  minister  of  Russia, 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        25 

who,  in  common  with  all  the  other  ministers  alluded  to,  was 
recognized  by  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

I  arn  not  about  to  go  into  a  history  of  the  annexation  of  Tex 
as.  I  do  not  wish  to  revert  to  that  matter.  I  have  to  say,  how 
ever,  that,  according  to  my  view  of  the  case,  the  objections  which 
were  urged,  and  properly  urged,  against  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
had  no  great  relation  to  any  claim  of  Mexico.  They  were,  first, 
that  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  not  a  fair  exercise  of  con 
stitutional  power.  I  thought  so,  and  others  thought  so,  but  a 
majority  in  the  counsels  of  the  country  overruled  the  objection. 
Secondly,  it  was  thought  that  we  had  already  territory  enough, 
and  that  there  was  some  degree  of  danger  in  extending  our  ter 
ritory  further  than  it  was  already  extended.  But  in  the  third 
place,  and  this  was  insurmountable  in  my  judgment,  it  was  an 
objection  that  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  to  bring  under  the 
control  of  our  government,  and  make  part  of  this  Union,  a  coun 
try  which  was  then  free  from  slavery,  but  into  which,  when 
annexed,  slavery  and  slave  representation  would  be  introduced. 
That  objection  was  insurmountable  in  my  mind,  and  would 
be  so  at  all  times,  under  all  circumstances,  and  in  all  like 
cases.  In  the  fourth  place,  it  was  evident,  and  so  was  urged 
in  Congress  again  and  again,  that  the  annexation  of  Texas 
might  lead  to  a  war  with  Mexico.  These  are  the  four  grounds 
upon  which  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  opposed  by  those  who 
did  oppose  it. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  country  who 
thinks  less  respectfully  than  I  do  of  the  Mexican  government. 
Unhappy,  unfortunate,  miserable  Mexico  has  nothing,  and  for 
a  long  time  has  had  nothing,  that  deserves  to  be  called  a  gov 
ernment.  When  she  broke  off  the  yoke  of  Spain,  and  pro 
claimed  herself  disposed  to  follow  the  example  of  the  United 
States,  and  uttered  the  name  of  Washington  with  respect ;  when 
she  professed  to  cherish  free  principles,  a  representative  govern 
ment,  trial  by  jury,  and  security  of  personal  property ;  why,  we 
all  hailed  her,  and  wished  her  well.  But  unfortunately  the  re 
sult  has  been,  that  she  has  had  no  true  constitutional  government ; 
has  had  no  government  under  the  influence  of  representative 
principles.  All  her  presidents  from  time  to  time  have  been  men 
created  through  the  pronunciamentos  of  the  military.  A  fortu 
nate  general  of  to-day  supersedes  him  who  wap  fortunate  yester- 


26        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

day  and  is  unfortunate  to-day.  One  military  man  seizes  the 
government,  and  obtains  what  he  can  from  the  people,  and  uses 
it  in  maintaining  an  army.  Another  man  to-morrow  makes 
another  seizure  of  public  or  private  property,  and  supersedes  his 
predecessor.  Meantime  the  people  are  the  victims  : 

"  Quicquid  delirant  reges,  plectuntur  Achivi." 

It  has  been  one  of  the  most  irregular  and  worst  governments,  in 
my  judgment,  that  has  ever  existed  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 

But  the  annexation  was  completed.  The  western  boundary 
was  a  matter  about  which  disputes  existed  or  must  arise.  There 
was,  as  between  us  and  Mexico,  as  there  had  been  between 
Texas  and  Mexico,  no  ascertained  and  acknowledged  western 
boundary. 

This  was  the  state  of  things  after  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
and  when  the  President  began  military  movements  in  that 
direction.  Now,  Gentlemen,  that  I  may  misrepresent  nobody, 
and  say  nothing  which  has  not  been  clearly  proved  by  official 
evidence,  I  will  proceed  to  state  to  you  three  propositions,  which, 
in  my  opinion,  are  fairly  sustained  by  the  correspondence  of  the 
government  in  its  various  branches  and  departments,  as  officially 
communicated  to  Congress. 

1st.  That  the  President  directed  the  occupation  of  a  territory 
by  force  of  arms,  to  which  the  United  States  had  no  ascertained 
title ;  a  territory  which,  if  claimed  by  the  United  States,  was 
also  claimed  by  Mexico,  and  was  at  the  time  in  her  actual  occu 
pation  and  possession. 

The  Texan  Convention  was  to  assemble  July  4th,  1845,  to 
pass  upon  the  annexation.  Before  this  date,  to  wit,  on  the  28th 
of  May,  General  Taylor  was  ordered  to  move  towards  Texas ; 
and  on  the  15th  of  June  he  was  instructed  by  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Bancroft  to  enter  Texas,  and  concentrate  his  forces  on  its  "  west 
ern  boundary,"  and  to  select  and  occupy  a  position  "  on  or  near 
the  Rio  Grande,  to  protect  what,  in  the  event  of  annexation, 
will  be  our  western  border." 

That  the  'United  States  had  no  ascertained  title  to  the  terri 
tory  appears  from  Mr.  Marcy's  letter  to  General  Taylor  of  July 
30th,  1845.  General  Taylor  is  there  informed,  that  what  he  is 
to  "  occupy,  defend,  and  protect "  is  "  the  territory  of  Texas,  to 
the  extent  that  it  has  been  occupied  by  the  people  of  Texas." 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        27 

It  appears  in  the  despatch  last  quoted,  that  this  territory  had 
been  occupied  by  Mexico. 

Mr.  Marcy  goes  on  to  say,  "  The  Rio  Grande  is  claimed  to  be 
the  boundary  between  the  two  countries,  and  up  to  this  boundary 
you  are  to  extend  your  protection,  only  excepting  any  posts  on 
the  eastern  side  thereof  which  are  in  the  actual  occupancy  of 
Mexican  forces,  or  Mexican  settlements  over  which  the  republic 
of  Texas  did  not  exercise  jurisdiction  at  the  period  of  annex 
ation,  or  shortly  before  that  event." 

This  makes  it  perfectly  clear,  that  the  United  States  had  nei 
ther  an  ascertained  nor  an  apparent  title  to  this  territory ;  for  it 
admits  that  Texas  only  made  a  claim  to  it,  Mexico  having  an 
adverse  claim,  and  having  also  actual  possession. 

2d.  That  as  early  as  July,  1845,  the  President  knew  as  well 
as  others  acquainted  with  the  subject,  that  this  territory  was  in 
the  actual  possession  of  Mexico ;  that  it  contained  Mexican  set 
tlements,  over  which  Texas  had  not  exercised  jurisdiction,  up  to 
the  time  of  annexation. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote  to  General 
Taylor,  that  "  This  department  is  informed  that  Mexico  has 
some  military  establishments  on  the  east  side  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
which  are  and  for  some  time  have  been  in  the  actual  occupancy 
of  her  troops."  On  the  30th  of  July,  the  Secretary  wrote  as 
already  mentioned,  directing  General  Taylor  to  except  from  his 
protection  "  any  posts  on  the  eastern  side  thereof  [of  the  Rio 
Grande],  which  are  in  the  actual  occupancy  of  Mexican  forces, 
or  Mexican  settlements  over  which  the  republic  of  Texas  did 
not  exercise  jurisdiction  at  the  period  of  annexation,  or  shortly 
before  that  event." 

It  manifestly  appears  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the  Presi 
dent,  from  the  28th  of  May  down  to  the  consummation  of  his 
purpose,  to  take  possession  of  this  territory  by  force  of  arms, 
however  unwilling  Mexico  might  be  to  yield  it,  or  whatever 
might  turn  out  on  examination  to  be  her  right  to  retain  it.  He 
intended  to  extinguish  the  Mexican  title  by  force ;  otherwise  his 
acts  and  instructions  are  inexplicable. 

The  government  maintained  from  the  first,  that  the  Rio 
Grande  was  the  western  boundary  of  Texas,  as  appears  Irom 
the  letters  to  General  Taylor  of  the  28th  of  May  and  15th  of 
June.  1845.  On  the  15th  of  June,  General  Taylor  was  instruct- 


28        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

ed  to  take  such  a  position  "  on  or  near  the  Rio  Grande "  as 
"  will  be  best  to  repel  invasion,  and  protect  what,  in  the  event  of 
annexation,  will  be  our  western  boundary."  In  accordance  with 
these  are  also  the  instructions  of  July  30th,  to  which  1  have 
already  referred. 

On  the  6th  of  August,  the  Secretary  wrote  to  General  Taylor, 
"  Although  a  state  of  war  with  Mexico,  or  an  invasion  of  Texas 
by  her  forces,  may  not  take  place,  it  is,  nevertheless,  deemed 
proper  and  necessary,  that  your  force  should  be  fully  equal  to 
meet  with  certainty  of  success  any  crisis  which  may  arise  in 
Texas,  and  which  would  require  you  by  force  of  arms  to  carry 
out  the  instructions  of  the  government"  He  is  then,  in  the  same 
letter,  authorized  to  procure  volunteers  from  Texas.  On  the 
23d  of  August,  the  Secretary  instructed  General  Taylor  thus : 
"  Should  Mexico  assemble  a  large  body  of  troops  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  cross  it  with  a  considerable  force,  such  a  movement 
must  be  regarded  as  an  invasion  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
commencement  of  hostilities."  He  is  then  instructed  how  to 
assemble  a  large  force.  On  the  30th  of  August  he  was  in 
structed,  in  case  any  Mexican  force  crossed  the  Rio  Grande,  "  to 
drive  all  Mexican  troops  beyond  it " ;  that  any  attempt  by  the 
Mexicans  to  cross  the  river  with  a  considerable  force,  would  be 
regarded  as  an  invasion ;  and  that  on  such  an  event,  namely, 
"in  case  of  war,  either  declared  or  made  manifest  by  hostile 
acts,"  he  was  not  to  confine  his  action  within  the  territory  of 
Texas.  On  the  16th  of  October,  the  Secretary  wrote,  that  "  the 
information  which  we  have  here  renders  it  probable  that  no  seri 
ous  attempts  will,  at  present,  be  made  by  Mexico  to  invade  Texas." 
But  General  Taylor  is  still  instructed  to  hold  the  country  be 
tween  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande.  "  Previous  instructions 
will  have  put  you  in  possession  of  the  views  of  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  not  only  as  to  the  extent  of  its  territorial 
claims,  but  of  its  determination  to  assert  them." 

He  is  directed  to  put  his  troops  into  winter  quarters,  accord 
ingly,  as  near  the  Rio  Grande  as  circumstances  will  permit.  Up 
to  this  time  and  to  the  llth  of  March,  1846,  General  Taylor  was 
at  Corpus  Christi.  The  open  and  decided  step  was  taken  on 
the  13th  of  January.  On  that  day  the  Secretary  at  War  directed 
General  Taylor  to  march  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  to  take  up  a 
position  opposite  Matamoras.  He  is  instructed,  in  so  doing,  in 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        29 

case  Mexico  should  declare  war,  or  commit  any  open  act  of  hos« 
tility,  not  to  act  merely  on  the  defensive.  Throughout  the  cor 
respondence,  it  is  plain  that  the  intention  was  to  extinguish  the 
Mexican  title  to  this  territory  by  armed  occupation;  and  the 
instructions  are  explicit,  to  treat  every  assertion  of  title  or  move 
ment  on  the  part  of  Mexico  as  an  act  of  hostility,  and  to  pro 
ceed  accordingly  and  resist  it. 

To  show  how  General  Taylor  understood  the  instructions  of 
his  government,  it  may  be  observed  that  on  the  2d  of  March, 
thirty  miles  from  Matamoras,  at  a  stream  called  the  Arroyo  Col 
orado,  he  was  met  by  a  party  of  Mexicans,  whose  commanding 
officer  informed  him,  that  if  he  crossed  the  stream  it  would  be 
deemed  a  declaration  of  war,  and  put  into  his  hand  a  copy  of 
General  Mejias's  proclamation  to  that  effect.  Notwithstanding 
this,  General  Taylor  put  his  forces  in  order  of  battle,  crossed  the 
stream,  and  pushed  on,  the  Mexicans  retreating.  He  arrived  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  opposite  Matamoras,  on  the  29th  of  March. 

Let  me  now  ask  your  attention  to  a;i  extract  of  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Buchanan  to  Mr.  Slidell,  of  January  20th,  1846.  In  this 
letter  Mr.  Buchanan  says  :  — 

"  In  the  mean  time  the  President,  in  anticipation  of  the  final  refusal 
of  the  Mexican  government  to  receive  you,  has  ordered  the  army  of 
Texas  to  advance  and  take  position  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande ; 
and  has  directed  that  a  strong  fleet  shall  be  immediately  assembled  in 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  He  will  thus  be  prepared  to  act  with  vigor  and 
promptitude  the  moment  that  Congress  shall  give  him  the  authority." 

Now,  if,  by  this  advance  of  troops,  possession  would  be  taken 
on  the  extreme  line  claimed  by  us,  what  further  vigorous  action 
did  the  President  expect  Congress  to  authorize  ?  Did  he  expect 
Congress  to  make  a  general  declaration  of  war  ?  Congress  was 
then  in  session.  Why  not  consult  it  ?  Why  take  a  step  not 
made  necessary  by  any  pressing  danger,  and  which  might  nat 
urally  lead  to  war,  without  requiring  the  authority  of  Congress  in 
advance  ?  With  Congress  is  the  power  of  peace  and  war ;  to 
anticipate  its  decision,  by  the  adoption  of  measures  leading  to 
war,  is  nothing  less  than  an  executive  interference  with  legisla 
tive  power.  Nothing  but  the  necessity  of  self-defence  could  jus 
tify  the  sending  of  troops  into  a  territory  claimed  and  occupied 
by  a  power  with  which  at  that  time  no  war  existed.  And  there 


30        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

was,  I  think,  no  case  of  such  necessity  of  self-defence.  Mr, 
Slidell  replied  to  Mr.  Buchanan  on  the  17th  of  February,  say 
ing,  "  The  advance  of  General  Taylor's  force  to  the  left  bank 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the  strengthening  our  squadron  in  the 
Gulf,  are  wise  measures,  which  may  exercise  a  salutary  influence 
upon  the  course  of  this  government." 

The  army  was  thus  ordered  to  the  extreme  limits  of  OUT 
claim ;  to  our  utmost  boundary,  as  asserted  by  ourselves ;  and 
here  it  was  to  be  prepared  to  act  further,  and  to  act  with  promp 
titude  and  vigor.  Now,  it  is  a  very  significant  inquiry,  Did  the 
President  mean  by  this  to  bring  on,  or  to  run  the  risk  of  bring 
ing  on,  a  general  war  ?  Did  he  expect  to  be  authorized  by  Con 
gress  to  prosecute  a  general  war  of  invasion  and  acquisition  ? 
I  repeat  the  question,  Why  not  take  the  opinion  of  Congress,  it 
then  being  in  session,  before  any  warlike  movement  was  made  ? 
Mr.  Buchanan's  letter  is  of  the  20th  of  January.  The  instruc 
tions  to  march  to  the  Rio  Grande  had  been  given  on  the  13th. 
Congress  was  in  session  all  this  time;  and  why  should,  and 
why  did,  the  executive  take  so  important  a  step,  not  necessary 
for  self-defence  and  leading  to  immediate  war,  without  the  au 
thority  of  Congress  ?  This  is  a  grave  question,  and  well  de 
serves  an  answer. 

Allow  me  to  repeat,  for  it  is  matter  of  history,  that  before  and 
at  the  time  when  these  troops  were  ordered  to  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  there  was  no  danger  of  invasion  by  Mexico  or 
apprehension  of  hostilities  by  her.  This  is  perfectly  evident 
from  General  Taylor's  letters  to  the  government  through  the 
preceding  summer,  and  down  to  the  time  the  orders  were 
given. 

I  now  refer  to  these  letters. 

On  the  15th  of  August,  General  Taylor  writes :  "  In  regard 
to  the  force  at  other  points  on  the  Rio  Grande,  except  the  militia 
of  the  country,  I  have  no  information ;  nor  do  I  hear  that  the 
reported  concentration  at  Matamoras  is  for  any  purpose  of  inva 
sion."  On  the  20th  of  August,  he  says :  "  Caravans  of  trad 
ers  arrive,  occasionally,  from  the  Rio  Grande,  but  bring  no 
news  of  importance.  They  represent  that  there  are  no  regular 
troops  on  that  river,  except  at  Matamoras,  and  do  not  seem  to 
be  aware  of  any  preparations  for  a  demonstration  on  this  bank 
of  the  river."  On  the  6th  of  September,  he  writes  thus :  "  I 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        31 

have  the  honor  to  report  that  a  confidential  agent,  despatched 
some  days  since  to  Matamoras,  has  returned,  and  reports  that 
no  extraordinary  preparations  are  going  forward  there ;  that  the 
garrison  does  not  seem  to  have  been  increased,  and  that  our 
consul  is  of  opinion  there  will  be  no  declaration  of  war."  On 
the  llth  of  October,  he  says :  "  Recent  arrivals  from  the  Rio 
Grande  bring  no  news  or  information  of  a  different  aspect  from 
that  which  I  reported  in  my  last.  The  views  expressed  in  pre 
vious  communications  relative  to  the  pacific  disposition  of  the 
border  people  on  both  sides  of  the  river  are  continually  con 
firmed."  This  was  the  last  despatch,  I  presume,  received  by  the 
War  Department  before  giving  the  order  of  January  13th,  for 
the  march  of  the  army. 

A  month  after  the  order  of  march  had  been  given,  all  General 
Taylor's  previous  accounts  were  confirmed  by  him.  On  the 
16th  of  February,  he  thus  writes  to  the  Adjutant- General  at 
"Washington :  "  Many  reports  will  doubtless  reach  the  Depart 
ment,  giving  exaggerated  accounts  of  Mexican  preparations  to 
resist  our  advance,  if  not  indeed  to  attempt  an  invasion  of  Texas. 
Such  reports  have  been  circulated  even  at  this  place,  and  owe 
their  origin  to  personal  interests  connected  with  the  stay  of  the 
army  here.  I  trust  that  they  will  receive  no  attention  at  the 
War  Department.  From  the  best  information  I  am  able  to  ob 
tain,  and  which  I  deem  as  authentic  as  any,  I  do  not  believe 
that  our  advance  to  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  will  be  re 
sisted.  The  army,  however,  will  go  fully  prepared  for  a  state 
of  hostilities,  should  they  unfortunately  be  provoked  by  the 
Mexicans." 

This  official  correspondence  proves,  I  think,  that  there  was  no 
danger  of  invasion,  or  of  hostilities  of  any  kind,  from  Mexico,  at 
the  time  of  the  march  of  the  army.  It  must  in  fact  be  plain  to 
every  body,  that  the  ordering  the  army  to  the  Rio  Grande  was  a 
step  naturally,  if  not  necessarily,  tending  to  provoke  hostilities, 
and  to  bring  on  war.  I  shall  use  no  inflammatory  or  exciting 
language,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  this  whole  proceeding  is 
against  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  just  limitations  of 
the  different  departments  of  the  government;  an  act  pregnant 
with  serious  consequences,  and  of  dangerous  precedent  to  the 
public  liberties. 

No  power  but  Congress  can  declare  war;   but  what  is  the 


32         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

value  of  this  constitutional  provision,  if  the  President  of  his  own 
authority  may  make  such  military  movements  as  must  bring  on 
war?  If  the  war  power  be  in  Congress,  then  every  thing  tend 
ing  directly  or  naturally  to  bring  on  war  should  be  referred  to 
the  discretion  of  Congress  ?  Was  this  order  of  march  given,  in 
the  idle  hope  of  coercing  Mexico  to  treat  ?  If  so,  idle  it  was,  as 
the  event  proved.  But  it  was  something  worse  than  a  mistake 
or  a  blunder ;  it  was,  as  it  seems  to  me,  an  extension  of  execu 
tive  authority,  of  a  very  dangerous  character.  I  see  no  neces 
sity  for  it,  and  no  apology  for  it ;  since  Congress  was  in  session 
at  the  same  moment,  at  the  other  end  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue, 
and  might  have  been  consulted. 

It  will  be  contended,  probably,  that  the  conduct  of  the  Presi 
dent  was  all  sanctioned  by  Congress,  by  the  act  of  May  llth. 
That  act  has  a  preamble,  of  which  much  has  been  said.  I  have 
only  to  remark,  that  neither  a  preamble,  nor  any  other  declaration 
of  a  legislative  body,  can  create  a  fact  or  alter  a  fact.  1  remem 
ber  to  have  heard  Chief  Justice  Marshall  ask  counsel,  who 
was  insisting  upon  the  authority  of  an  act  of  legislation,  if  he 
thought  an  act  of  legislation  could  create  or  destroy  a  fact,  or 
change  the  truth  of  history.  Would  it  alter  the  fact,  said  he,  if 
a  legislature  should  solemnly  enact,  that  Mr.  Hume  never  wrote 
the  history  of  England  ?  A  legislature  may  alter  the  law,  but 
no  power  can  reverse  a  fact.  I  hardly  suppose  Congress,  by  the 
act  of  the  llth  of  May,  meant  more  than  to  enable  the  Presi 
dent  to  defend  the  country,  to  the  extent  of  the  limit  claimed 
by  him.  If  those  who  concurred  in  that  act  meant  thereby  to 
encourage  the  President  to  invade  Mexico,  and  to  carry  on  with 
the  whole  force  committed  to  his  charge  a  war  of  acquisition, 
to  establish  provinces,  to  appoint  governors,  to  call  elections,  to 
annex  new  worlds  to  the  United  States,  —  if  that  was  their  inten 
tion  they  have  never  said  it,  and  I  for  one  do  not  believe  it  was 
their  intention.  But  I  repeat,  Gentlemen,  that  Mexico  is  highly 
unjustifiable  in  having  refused  to  receive  a  minister  from  the 
United  States.  My  remarks  on  this  subject  have  been  drawn 
forth  by  no  sympathy  with  Mexico.  I  have  no  desire,  Heaven 
knows,  to  show  my  country  in  the  wrong.  But  these  remarks 
originate  purely  in  a  desire  to  maintain  the  powers  of  govern 
ment  as  they  are  established  by  the  Constitution  between  the 
different  departments,  and  a  hope  that,  whether  we  have  con- 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        33 

quests  or  no  conquests,  war  or  no  war,  peace  or  no  peace,  wo 
shall  yet  preserve,  in  its  integrity  and  strength,  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

War,  however,  is  upon  us.  Armies  are  in  the  field,  navies  are 
upon  the  sea.  We  believe  that  the  government  ought  immedi 
ately,  in  any  honorable  and  satisfactory  manner,  to  bring  that 
war  to  a  conclusion,  if  possible.  We  believe  that  every  reason 
able  effort  should  be  made  to  put  an  end  to  this  war.  But  while 
the  war  lasts,  while  soldiers  are  upon  the  land,  and  seamen  on 
the  sea,  upholding  the  flag  of  the  country,  you  feel,  and  I  feel, 
and  every  American  feels,  that  they  must  be  succored  and  sus 
tained.  They  bear  the  commission  of  their  government.  They 
are  under  its  order  and  control.  Their  duty  is  obedience  to  su 
perior  command.  They  are  engaged  on  a  foreign  service.  They 
have  done  honor  to  the  country  to  which  they  belong,  and  raised 
the  character  of  its  military  prowess. 

I  am  behind  no  man  in  ascribing  praise  and  honor  to  Genera] 
Taylor  and  all  his  forces ;  and  I  am  behind  no  man,  and  per 
haps  forward  of  most  men,  in  the  respect  and  admiration  which 
I  feel  for  the  good  conduct  of  the  volunteers  who  have  entered 
the  field.  We  know  no  period  in  our  history,  there  is  nothing 
in  our  annals,  which  shows  superior  gallantry  on  the  part  of  raw 
recruits,  taken  suddenly  from  the  pursuits  of  civil  life  and  put 
into  military  service.  Where  can  we  look  for  such  steadiness, 
coolness,  bravery,  and  modesty  as  in  these  volunteers  ?  The 
most  distinguished  incident  in  the  history  of  our  country  relative 
to  the  good  conduct  of  militia,  of  new  raised  levies  from  amongst 
the  people,  is  perhaps  that  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  The 
gentleman  who  sits  by  me,  though  not  of  years  to  bear  arms, 
was  of  years  to  be  present,  and  to  look  on  and  see  others  en 
gaged  in  that  conflict  He  did  all  he  could,  he  poured  his  fer 
vent  youthful  wishes  into  the  general  cause.  I  might  go  further, 
and  say  that  at  Bunker  Hill  the  newly  raised  levies  and  re 
cruits  sheltered  themselves  behind  some  temporary  defences, 
but  at  Monterey  the  volunteers  assailed  a  fortified  city.  At  any 
rate,  Gentlemen,  whatever  we  may  think  of  the  origin  of  the 
contest  which  called  them  there,  it  is  gratifying  to  see  to  what 
extent  the  military  power  of  the  Union  may  be  depended  on, 
whenever  the  exigencies  of  the  country  may  require  it.  It  is 
gratifying  to  know,  that,  without  the  expense  or  the  danger  of 
VOL.  iv.  —  3 


34         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

large  standing  armies,  there  is  enough  military  spirit,  enough 
intelligence,  enough  perseverance,  and  patience,  and  submis 
sion  to  discipline,  amongst  the  young  men  of  the  country,  to 
uphold  our  stars  and  stripes  whenever  the  government  may 
order  them  to  be  unfurled. 

I  will  now  leave  all  topics  connected  with  the  foreign  relations 
of  the  country,  and  pass  to  a  consideration  of  some  of  the  sub 
jects  connected  with  measures  bearing  upon  our  internal  and 
domestic  interests.  Of  these  there  is  one  of  great  public  im 
portance;  and  another,  connected  with  which  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  individuals  have  been  made  —  shall  I  say  it  ?  — 
the  victims  of  the  exercise  of  the  veto  power.  I  speak  of  the 
Harbor  Bill,  and  of  the  bill  making  indemnity  for  French  depre 
dations  on  our  commerce  before  1800. 

There  is,  Gentlemen,  a  clear  veto  power  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  There  is  an  express  provision  that  the  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  may  withhold  his  approbation,  if  he 
see  fit,  from  a  law  of  Congress ;  and  unless,  after  reasons  stated 
by  him  for  so  withholding  his  approbation,  it  shall  be  passed  by 
two  thirds  of  both  houses,  it  fails  of  legal  validity  and  becomes 
a  dead  letter.  This,  in  common  discourse,  we  call  the  veto 
power.  Something  like  it  existed  in  ancient  Rome.  But  the 
ffamers  of  our  Constitution  borrowed  it  from  England,  and  then 
qualified  it.  By  the  constitution  of  England,  it  theoretically 
exists  in  the  monarch,  and  without  qualification.  The  framers 
of  our  Constitution,  in  placing  it  in  the  hands  of  the  President, 
qualified  it,  so  that  if,  upon  reconsideration  of  the  same  measure, 
two  thirds  of  both  houses  concurred  in  it,  the  bill  should  become 
a  law,  the  President's  negative  notwithstanding. 

In  England,  the  power  of  the  crown  to  negative  acts  of  Par 
liament  has  not  been  exercised  since  the  reign  of  William  the 
Third,  nearly  two  hundred  years ;  and  the  reason  is  generally 
stated  to  be,  that  since  that  period,  such  has  been  the  course  of 
the  British  government  in  its  administration,  that  the  influence 
of  the  crown,  in  one  or  both  houses  of  Parliament,  connected 
with  the  power  which  the  king  possesses  of  dissolving  Parlia 
ment,  has  been  sufficient,  without  recourse  to  the  exercise  of  the 
obnoxious  veto  power,  to  prevent  the  passage  of  bills  with 
which  the  crown  was  not  satisfied.  Modern  commentators  say 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        35 

that  influence,  in  this  respect,  has  taken  the  place  of  prerog 
ative.  The  king  uses  his  influence,  but  never  actually  nega 
tives  bills  presented  to  him.  As  I  have  said,  our  Constitution 
places  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the  executive  in  a  qualified  man 
ner.  It  is  valid,  unless  two  thirds  of  both  houses  concur  in  the 
measure.  The  result  of  this  provision  has  been  rather  singular. 

I  will  not  impute  to  Congress  at  any  time,  or  to  its  members 
under  any  administration,  any  liability  to  corrupt  influence ;  cer 
tainly  not.  But  I  suppose  all  will  admit  that  frequently,  and 
especially  in  party  times,  party  connections,  perhaps  some  little 
hope  of  office,  some  desire  to  benefit  friends  out  of  Congress, 
may  soften  opposition  to  particular  measures  in  particular  men's 
minds,  and  may  produce  something  which,  if  we  would  talk 
straight  out,  we  might  call  "  undue  influence."  It  has  hap 
pened,  and,  if  we  are  curious  in  such  researches  to  fix  the  chro 
nology  of  occurrences,  we  might  find  instances  not  very  remote, 
that  persons,  still  members  of  Congress,  but  who  had  failed  in 
their  reelection  or  were  pretty  sure  of  failing,  have  concurred 
in  certain  measures ;  and  then,  not  being  longer  called  on  to 
serve  their  country  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  and  particularly  un 
willing  that  the  country  should  entirely  lose  their  services,  have 
condescended  to  take  office  under  the  executive.  Therefore  the 
result  in  the  practical  administration  of  our  government  seems 
to  be  this.  Some  degree  of  influence  may  be  exerted  sufficient 
to  bring  one  third  to  concur  with  the  sentiments  of  the  adminis 
tration  ;  and  then  the  President,  by  his  veto,  overwhelms  the  oth 
er  two  thirds ;  so  that  if  the  purpose  be  to 'defeat  a  measure  passed 
by  majorities  of  both  houses  of  Congress,  if  Influence  will  come 
in  and  do  one  third  of  the  work,  Veto  is  ready  to  do  the  rest. 

The  first  victim  of  the  veto  power,  at  the  last  session,  was 
connected  with  what  is  called,  though  not  very  correctly,  Inter 
nal  Improvements.  It  was  the  Harbor  Bill.  I  confess  to  a  feel 
ing  of  great  interest  in  that  bill.  Seeing  nothing  in  it,  as  I 
thought,  but  such  things  as  General  Jackson's  administration 
had  approved,  and  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration  had  ap 
proved  over  and  over  again,  I  had  no  more  apprehension  that 
the  President  of  the  United  States  would  veto  that  bill,  than 
that  he  would  veto  an  ordinary  appropriation  bill  for  the  support 
of  the  army  or  navy.  I  was  as  much  surprised  when  it  was 
announced  that,  probably,  he  would  send  us  the  veto  as  if  it 


36        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

had  been  stated  to  me  that  he  would  veto  a  bill  necessary  to 
carry  on  the  government.  But  the  veto  came.  Now,  Gentle 
men,  that  bill  made  an  appropriation  of  one  million  three  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars,  for  certain  harbor  improvements,  on  the 
ocean,  the  Gulf,  the  lakes,  and  the  great  and  important  navigable 
rivers  of  the  country ;  —  a  work  of  peace,  of  improvement,  of  na 
tional  progress ;  something  to  carry  us  forward,  in  convenience 
and  prosperity,  and  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth ;  something  to 
make  permanent  fixtures  in  the  land,  that  should  do  some  good 
to  us  and  our  posterity  for  ever.  That  was  its  object.  The  ap 
propriation  was  small.  The  particular  objects  were  somewhat 
numerous.  The  amount  was  no  burden  at  all  upon  the  treas 
ury  ;  in  connection  with  its  objects,  not  worth  considering.  And 
yet  here  comes  the  veto ! 

Well,  now,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  We  cannot  shut  our  eyes 
to  what  is  around  us.  Here  we  are.  This  vast  country, 
with  the  ocean  on  the  east,  and  the  Gulf  on  the  south,  and  the 
great  lakes  on  the  north  and  the  west,  and  these  great  rivers 
penetrating  it  through  hundreds  and  thousands  of  miles,  —  what 
are  we  to  do  ?  Is  it  not,  of  all  countries  in  the  world,  that  for 
which  nature  has  done  mighty  things,  and  yet  calls  most  loudly 
for  man  to  do  his  part  ?  Providence  has  given  us  a  country  capa 
ble  of  improvement.  It  is  not  perfected ;  we  are  called  to  do 
something  for  ourselves ;  to  wake  up,  in  this  day  of  improvement, 
and  do  the  deeds  that  belong  to  improvement;  to  facilitate  inter 
nal  intercourse ;  to  furnish  harbors  for  the  protection  of  life  and 
property ;  to  remove  obstructions  from  the  rivers ;  to  do  every 
thing,  all  and  singular,  which  a  large  and  liberal  policy  will  sug 
gest  to  an  intelligent  people,  with  abundance  of  means  for  the 
advancement  of  the  national  prosperity.  We  live  in  an  age, 
Gentlemen,  when  we  are  not  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  great  ex 
amples  set  us,  all  over  the  European  continent.  I  do  not  speak 
of  England,  where  private  enterprise  and  wealth  have  gone  so 
far  ahead.  But  look  to  Russia,  to  Prussia,  to  Austria,  to  Saxony, 
to  Sardinia ;  everywhere  we  see  a  spirit  of  improvement,  active, 
stimulated,  and  persevering.  We  behold  mountains  penetrated 
by  railroads,  safe  harbors  constructed,  every  thing  done  by  gov 
ernment  for  the  people,  which,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  peo 
ple  cannot  do  for  themselves. 

Let  us  contemplate,  for  a  moment,  the  Mississippi.     This  no- 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        37 

«. 

ble  and  extraordinary  stream,  with  seven  or  eight  millions  of  peo 
ple  on  its  banks,  and  on  the  waters  falling  into  it,  absolutely  calls 
for  the  clearing  out  rivers  and  for  the  removal  of  snags  and  oth 
er  obstacles  to  safe  navigation.  Who  is  to  do  this  ?  Will  any 
one  of  the  States  do  it  ?  Can  aU  of  the  States  do  it  ?  Is  it  the 
appropriate  duty  of  any  one  State  or  any  number  of  States  ?  We 
know  it  is  not.  We  know  that,  unless  this  government  be  placed 
in  the  hands  of  men  who  feel  that  it  is  their  constitutional  duty  to 
make  these  improvements,  they  never  will  be  made ;  and  the  wa 
ters  of  the  Mississippi  will  roll  over  snags,  and  snags,  and  snags, 
for  a  century  to  come.  These  improvements  must  come  from 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  the  nature  of  things 
they  cannot  come  at  all ;  and  I  say  that  every  steamboat  that  is 
lost  by  one  of  these  snags,  every  life  that  is  sacrificed,  goes  to 
make  up  a  great  account  against  this  government.  Why,  what 
a  world  is  there !  What  rivers  and  what  cities  on  their  banks  ! 
—  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  St.  Louis,  Natchez,  New  Orleans,  and 
others  that  spring  up  while  we  are  talking  of  them,  or,  indeed, 
before  we  begin  to  speak  of  them ;  commercial  marts,  great 
places  for  the  exchange  of  commodities  along  these  rivers,  which 
are,  as  it  were,  so  many  inland  seas !  And  what !  the  general 
government  no  authority  over  them,  —  no  power  of  improve 
ment!  Why,  that  will  be  thought  the  most  incredible  thing, 
hereafter,  that  ever  was  heard  of.  It  will  not  be  believed  that 
it  ever  entered  into  the  head  of  any  administration,  that  these 
were  not  objects  deserving  the  care  and  attention  of  the  gov 
ernment.  I  think,  therefore,  that  the  Harbor  Bill  negatived  by 
the  President  raises  a  vital  question.  This  question  was  put 
in  Congress,  it  has  been  put  since,  it  was  put  at  the  polls.  I 
put  the  question  now,  whether  these  internal  improvements  of 
the  waters  of  the  lakes  and  rivers  shall  be  made  or  shall  not  be 
made ;  and  those  who  say  they  shall  not  be  made  are  right  to 
adhere  to  Mr.  Polk ;  and  those  who  say  they  shall  be  made,  and 
must  be  made,  and  that  they  will  have  them  made,  why,  they 
have  the  work  in  their  own  hands,  and,  if  they  be  a  majority  of 
the  people,  they  will  do  it. 

I  do  not  know  that  we  of  the  East  and  North  have  any  espe 
cial  interest  in  this ;  but  I  tell  you  what  we  of  the  East  think 
that  we  have  an  especial  interest  in.  I  have  thought  so,  at  least, 
ever  since  I  have  been  in  Congress,  and  I  believe  all  my  asso- 


38         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

elates  from  Massachusetts  have  also  thought  so.  We  think  we 
have  an  interest,  and  an  especial  interest,  in  manifesting  a  spirit 
of  liberality  in  regard  to  all  expenses  for  improvements  of  those 
parts  of  the  country  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  the  lakes. 
We  think  it  belongs  both  to  our  interest  and  our  reputation,  to 
sustain  improvements  on  the  Western  waters. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  what  was  the  Harbor  Bill  of  the  last  ses 
sion  ?  What  was  that  bill,  which  both  houses  passed,  and  the 
President  vetoed  ?  Here  it  is.  And  although  this  bill  had  three 
readings  in  Congress,  and  one  more  when  it  came  back  vetoed, 
I  would  ask  for  it  a  fifth  reading  now.* 

Such,  Gentlemen,  is  an  enumeration  of  the  appropriations  of 
this  bill,  running  along  the  shores  of  the  sea  and  the  lakes  down 
the  Gulf  and  the  rivers ;  forty-nine  objects  in  all.  I  notice  but 
one  important  omission.  I  think  there  ought  to  have  been  a 
very  liberal  appropriation  for  the  better  navigation  of  Salt  River ! 
This  is  the  bill  which  the  President  negatived,  and  I  will  shortly 
state  to  you  his  reasons,  as  I  collect  them  from  his  messages,  and 
make  such  remarks  on  those  reasons  as  I  may,  whilst  I  go  along. 

The  President  assumes  that  these  harbors  are  internal  im 
provements,  and  because  there  is  no  power  vested  in  Congress 
by  the  Constitution  under  that  specific  head,  he  denies  the  exist 
ence  of  such  a  power  altogether.  The  course  of  the  government 
has  been  just  the  other  way.  The  people  have  not  only  acqui 
esced  in  these  improvements,  but  clamored  for  them,  and  they 
are  now  very  likely  to  clamor  again. 

The  President  assigns  as  a  reason  for  the  veto,  that  several  of 
his  predecessors  had  denied  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress 
to  make  internal  improvements.  I  know  not  where  this  denial 
is  to  be  found.  If  he  intends  to  say  that  some  of  his  predeces 
sors  denied  the  general  power  of  making  all  kinds  of  internal 
improvements,  nobody  contends  that  such  a  general  power  as 
that  is  in  the  Constitution.  But  then  the  question  is,  Does  this 
bill  imply  any  such  power?  These  works  are  not  internal  im 
provements  in  that  general  sense ;  they  are  harbor  improve 
ments,  connected  with  commerce,  and  the  question  is  whether, 
as  such,  they  are  not  provided  for  in  the  Constitution.  Let  us 
not  be  carried  away  by  a  vague  notion  that  the  Constitution  of 

*  Mr.  Hone  of  New  York  here  read  the  bill,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Webster. 
it  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  I. 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        39 

the  United  States  gives  no  power  to  make  internal  improvements, 
and  therefore  does  not  authorize  expenditures  on  a  harbor.  We 
are  speaking  of  things  not  by  any  general  name,  not  by  classifi 
cation  or  classes,  but  by  phrases  descriptive  of  the  things  them 
selves.  We  call  a  harbor  a  harbor.  If  the  President  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  says  that  is  a  matter  of  internal  improvement,  why 
tnen  I  say,  that  the  name  cannot  alter  the  thing ;  the  thing  is  a 
harbor.  And  does  not  every  one  of  these  harbors  touch  naviga 
ble  waters  ?  Is  not  every  one  of  them  on  the  shore  of  the  sea, 
bay,  gulf,  or  navigable  river  ?  and  are  not  the  navigable  waters 
of  the  ocean,  and  Gulf,  and  bays  and  rivers,  —  are  they  not  all 
for  commercial  purposes  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  States, 
and  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  ? 

The  President  says  that  some  of  the  objects  provided  for  by 
the  bill  are  local,  and  lie  within  the  limits  of  a  single  State. 
Well,  I  dare  say  they  do.  It  would  be  somewhat  remarkable  if 
a  harbor  were  found  lying  in  two  or  three  States.  It  would  be 
rather  a  large  harbor  that  would  embrace  parts  even  of  Connect 
icut  and  Rhode  Island,  two  of  the  smallest  of  the  States.  The 
question  is  not  whether  the  site  be  local,  or  whether  the  expen 
diture  be  local,  but  whether  the  purpose  be  general,  a  national 
purpose  and  object.  As  well  might  it  be  said  that  expenditure 
upon  the  Capitol  was  local,  and  not  provided  for,  as  to  say  that 
expenditure  upon  a  harbor  or  breakwater,  which  is  necessary  for 
the  general  purposes  of  the  commerce  of  the  country,  is  a  local 
expenditure  made  within  a  State,  and  therefore  not  constitu 
tional.  Wherever  the  money  is  so  expended,  it  is  expended 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  and  for  purposes 
conceded  to  it  by  the  Constitution ;  that  is  to  say,  the  regula 
tion  and  protection  of  commerce. 

The  President  draws  a  distinction  between  improvements  for 
the  benefit  of  foreign  commerce  and  those  for  the  benefit  of  in 
ternal  trade,  and  states  that  the  objects  provided  for  by  this  bill 
are  for  the  benefit  of  internal  trade  only.  I  wonder  where  he 
finds  any  authority  to  rest  a  distinction  on  that  fact,  even  if  it 
existed,  which  is  hardly  the  case,  I  think,  in  any  one  instance. 

The  President  says  that  many  of  the  appropriations  for  these 
particular  objects  were  made  for  the  first  time  by  this  bill. 
Well,  if  appropriations  had  been  made  for  them  before,  and  they 
had  been  adequate,  there  would  be  no  occasion  for  making  new 


40        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

ones ;  but  the  question  is,  Are  not  these  new  objects  the  same 
in  principle  as  those  for  which  appropriations  have  been  made 
very  many  times  ?  I  think  they  are  ;  but  I  shall  return  to  that 
point. 

But  let  us  now  go  to  the  origin  of  this  power.  Let  us  appeal 
from  the  opinions  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  the 
written  text  of  the  Constitution ;  and  let  us  see  what  that  is. 
The  power  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  in  this  re 
spect  is  expressed  in  the  Constitution  in  a  very  few  words.  It 
says,  that  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  regulate  commerce 
with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  States,  and  with 
the  Indian  tribes."  « 

The  whole  force  of  the  provision  is  concentrated  in  that  word 
"  regulate."  "Well,  Mr.  Polk  himself  admits  that  the  word  "  reg 
ulate,"  as  applied  to  facilities  for  foreign  trade,  does  extend  to 
the  making  of  beacons,  piers,  and  light-houses ;  but  his  message 
attempts  to  run  a  distinction  between  foreign  trade  and  trade 
between  the  States.  But  the  power  over  each  is  given  in  the 
same  clause  of  the  Constitution,  in  the  very  same  words,  and  is 
of  exactly  equal  length  and  breadth.  If  one  is  denied,  both  are 
denied ;  if  one  is  conceded,  both  must  be  conceded.  It  is  im 
possible  to  separate  them  by  any  argument  or  logical  process 
worthy  of  a  statesman's  mind.  It  is  wholly  arbitrary,  I  say, 
and  without  the  least  foundation,  to  affirm  that  Congress  may 
make  provision  for  a  harbor  for  the  accommodation  of  foreign 
commerce,  and  not  of  domestic  trade.  Is  the  latter  not  as  im 
portant  as  the  former  ?  Is  not  the  breakwater  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Delaware  Bay  as  important  for  the  trade  of  Philadelphia 
with  New  Orleans  as  with  Liverpool  ?  and  so  everywhere  else  ? 
Is  not  our  coasting  trade  one  of  the  largest  branches  of  our  mar 
itime  interest,  and  can  we  yet  do  nothing  for  that  ? 

It  is  strange  that  any  man  should  entertain  the  idea  that  such 
a  distinction  can  be  drawn.  I  have  before  me  a  long  list  of 
acts  of  Congress,  of  a  good  deal  of  importance,  as  I  think,  tend 
ing  to  show  that  the  President  is  mistaken  when  he  speaks  of 
the  acquiescence  and  approbation  of  the  people  in  opinions  ad 
verse  to  harbor  improvements.  The  opinion,  both  of  Congress 
and  the  people,  seems  quite  the  other  way.  Here  is  a  list  of 
provisions  of  this  kind,  made  in  Mr.  Adams's  time,  in  General 
Jackson's  time,  and  in  Mr.  Van  Buren's  time,  for  exactly  similar 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        41 

objects,  and  some  of  them  for  the  same  objects ;  and  I  should 
tax  your  patience  with  the  reading  of  this  list,  if  I  had  not 
another  more  convincing  statement  to  make  to  you,  which  will 
close  the  consideration  of  this  part  of  the  subject.* 

I  have  already  placed  before  you  the  Harbor  Bill,  as  it  passed 
both  houses,  at  the  last  session.  Some  of  its  enactments 
have  been  read  to  you  by  my  friend  near  me,  Mr.  Hone ;  and 
now  let  me  add,  that  I  have  caused  the  objects  of  expenditure 
and  appropriation  in  that  bill  to  be  carefully  examined,  and 
former  legislation  in  regard  to  these  several  objects  to  be  inves 
tigated  ;  and  I  will  state  to  you  the  result.  Here  are  forty-nine 
distinct  objects  of  appropriation  in  this  bill  of  last  session  which 
was  vetoed  by  the  President ;  and  out  of  this  list  of  forty-nine, 
thirty-three  of  them  are  the  identical  objects  for  which  appropri 
ations  were  made  during  the  administration  of  General  Jackson. 
There  remain  sixteen;  and,  upon  careful  examination,  it  will 
appear  that  these  sixteen  objects  that  have  grown  up  since  the 
time  of  General  Jackson,  and  which  Congress  thought  proper  to 
provide  for  in  this  bill,  are  every  one  harbors  connected  with  the 
external  trade  of  the  country,  and  therefore  strictly  within  Mr. 
Folk's  own  rule. 

Gentlemen,  I  leave  this  question.  In  the  free  discussion  of 
which  it  has  been  the  subject,  in  and  out  of  Congress,  the  argu 
ment  is  exhausted.  The  question  is,  whether  we  are  convinced, 
and  whether  we  will  stand  up  to  our  convictions.  The  question 
is,  whether  the  Great  West,  so  important  a  part  of  the  coun 
try,  bearing  its  share  of  all  the  common  burdens,  is  to  be  struck 
out  of  all  participation  in  the  benefits  which  are  bestowed  upon 
other  portions  of  the  Union  ?  I  think  not.  The  question  is  put 
already.  I  expect  to  hear  an  answer  to  it  from  the  North,  the 
Northwest,  and  the  South.  But  I  do  not  rely  upon  conventions 
at  Memphis  or  St.  Louis ;  I  do  not  rely  on  resolutions.  I  rely 
on  the  disposition  of  the  people  to  understand  what  their  consti 
tutional  rights  are,  and  to  take  care  that  those  constitutional 
rights  shall  be  fairly  protected,  by  being  intrusted  to  proper  hands. 

Before  I  quite  leave  this  part  of  the  subject,  I  must  say  a 
word  upon  an  important  report  made  to  the  Senate  at  the  last 
session,  by  a  committee  to  whom  the  resolutions  passed  by  the 
Memphis  Convention  were  referred.  A  distinguished  Senator 

*  The  list  here  referred  to  will  he  found  in  the  Appendix,  No.  II. 


42         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhoun)  was  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee,  and  framed  that  elaborate  report.  So  far  as  he  admits 
any  thing  done  by  Congress  to  have  been  rightfully  done,  and 
admits  any  degree  of  authority  in  Congress  to  do  what  has  not 
yet  been  done,  I  concur  with  him.  The  rest  I  reject ;  for  I  do 
not  think  the  distinctions  taken  by  that  eminent  man  are  sound. 
I  regret  that  it  is  my  misfortune  to  differ  from  him.  The  report 
proposes,  I  may  state  in  brief,  that  where  a  river  divides  two 
States,  or  only  two  States  are  concerned,  these  two  States  must 
make  the  necessary  improvements  themselves.  I  do  not  agree 
with  that ;  I  do  not  suppose  that  it  is  a  matter  of  any  conse 
quence  whether  the  necessary  improvements  are  connected  with 
two  States,  or  four,  or  only  one.  It  is  not  a  question  of  location, 
—  it  is  a  question  of  public  importance.  Look,  for  instance,  at 
that  portion  of  the  North  River  which  runs  between  two  shores, 
both  of  which  belong  to  New  York.  There,  I  suppose,  the  power 
of  Congress  over  Governor  Marcy's  overslaugh  farm,  as  it  is 
called,  is  as  perfect,  as  it  is  to  make  a  similar  improvement  far 
ther  down,  where  the  river  divides  the  States  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey.  The  distinction  attempted,  as  it  strikes  me,  is  a 
distinction  without  a  difference. 

Having  thus  alluded  to  the  report  of  the  committee  of  the 
Senate,  and  not  having  time  to  discuss  its  propositions  at  any 
considerable  length,  I  will  now,  by  way  of  conclusion,  give  to 
you  my  views  on  all  this  question  of  the  power  of  making  har 
bors.  It  is  my  opinion,  — 

That  Congress  has  the  power  to  make  harbors  on  the  rivers 
and  on  the  lakes,  to  the  full  extent  to  which  it  has  ever  proposed 
to  exercise  such  power: 

That  whether  these  proposed  harbors  be  judged  useful  for  for 
eign  commerce,  or  only  for  commerce  among  the  States  them 
selves,  the  principle  is  the  same,  and  the  constitutional  power  is 
given  in  the  same  clause,  and  in  the  same  words : 

That  Congress  has  power  to  clear  out  obstructions  from  all 
rivers  suited  to  the  purposes  of  commerce,  foreign  or  domestic, 
and  to  improve  their  navigation  and  utility,  by  appropriations 
from  the  treasury  of  the  United  States : 

That  whether  a  river  divide  two  States,  or  more  than  two,  or 
run  through  two  States,  or  more  than  two,  or  is  wholly  confined 
to  one  State,  is  immaterial,  provided  its  importance  to  com-*" 
merce  foreign  or  domestic,  be  admitted : 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        43 

I  think  it  wholly  immaterial  whether  a  proposed  improve 
ment  in  a  river,  for  commercial  purposes,  be  above  or  below  an 
actually  existing  port  of  entry  : 

If,  instead  of  clearing  out  the  rocks,  and  in  that  manner  im 
proving  the  channel  of  a  river,  it  is  found  better  to  make  a  canal 
around  falls  which  are  in  it,  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  of  the 
power  of  Congress  to  construct  such  a  canal.  I  think,  for  in 
stance,  that  Congress  has  the  power  to  purchase  the  Louisville 
Canal  around  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio ;  and  that  it  ought  to  exercise 
that  power  now,  if  the  work  can  be  purchased  for  a  reasonable 
price ;  and  that  the  canal  should  then  be  free  to  all  who  have 
occasion  to  use  it,  reserving  such  tolls  only  as  are  sufficient  to 
keep  the  works  in  repair. 

It  seems  to  me  that  these  propositions  all  flow  from  the  na 
ture  of  our  government,  and  its  equal  power  over  trade  with  for 
eign  nations  and  among  the  States ;  and  from  the  fact  resulting 
from  these  powers,  that  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  is  a 
unit.  I  have  no  conception  of  any  such  thing  as  seems  to  be 
thought  possible  by  the  report  of  the  committee  of  the  Senate, 
that  is,  an  external  commerce  existing  between  two  States,  carried 
on  by  laws  and  regulations  of  their  own,  whether  such  laws  and 
regulations  were  adopted  with  or  without  the  consent  of  Con 
gress.  I  do  not  understand  how  there  can  be  a  Pennsylvania  ves 
sel,  built,  manned,  and  equipped  under  Pennsylvania  laws,  trad 
ing  as  such  with  New  York  or  Maryland,  or  having  any  rights  or 
privileges  not  conferred  by  acts  of  Congress ;  and  consequently 
I  consider  it  an  unfounded  idea,  that,  when  only  two  States  are 
interested  in  the  navigation  of  a  river,  or  its  waters  touch  the 
shores  of  only  two  States,  the  improvement  of  such  river  is  ex 
cluded  from  the  power  of  Congress,  and  must  be  left  to  the  care 
of  the  two  States  themselves,  under  an  agreement,  which  they 
may,  with  the  consent  of  Congress,  enter  into  for  that  purpose. 
In  my  opinion,  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  which  forbids 
a  State  from  entering  into  any  alliance,  compact,  or  agreement 
with  another  State,  without  consent  of  Congress,  can  draw  after 
it  no  such  conclusion  as  that,  with  the  consent  of  Congress,  two 
States  ought  to  be  bound  to  improve  the  navigation  of  a  river 
which  separates  their  territories ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  power  of 
Congress  to  make  such  improvements  is  taken  away.  A  river 
flowing  between  two  States,  and  two  States  only,  may  be  highly 
important  to  the  commerce  of  the  whole  Union. 


44         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

It  can  hardly  be  necessary  to  discuss  this  point.  It  is  suffi 
cient  to  say,  that  the  whole  argument  is  founded  on  the  notion 
that  the  Constitution  prohibits  more  than  two  States  from  enter 
ing  into  agreements,  even  with  the  consent  of  Congress.  This 
is  manifestly  untenable.  The  Constitution  extends  as  fully  to 
agreements  between  three,  four,  or  five  States,  as  between  two 
only ;  and  the  consent  of  Congress  makes  an  agreement  between 
five  as  valid  as  between  two.  If,  therefore,  two  States  can  im 
prove  rivers  with  the  consent  of  Congress,  so  can  five  or  more ; 
and,  if  it  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  denying  the  power  of  Con 
gress  to  improve  a  river  in  a  particular  case,  that  two  States  can 
themselves  do  it,  having  first  obtained  the  assent  of  Congress, 
it  is  an  equally  valid  reason  in  the  case  where  five  or  ten  States 
are  concerned.  They,  too,  may  do  the  same  thing,  with  the 
consent  of  Congress.  The  distinction,  therefore,  between  what 
may  be  done  by  Congress  where  only  two  States  are  concerned 
with  a  river,  and  what  may  be  done  in  cases  where  more  than 
two  are  so  concerned,  entirely  vanishes.  I  hold  the  whole  doc 
trine  of  the  report  of  the  committee,  on  this  point,  to  be  un 
sound.  I  am  also  of  opinion,  that  there  is  no  difference  between 
the  power  to  construct  a  pier  and  the  power  to  construct  a  har 
bor.  A  single  pier,  of  itself,  affords  a  degree  of  shelter  and  pro 
tection  from  winds  and  seas ;  two  parallel  piers  make  a  harbor , 
and  if  one  pier  may  be  rightfully  constructed,  it  is  no  extrava 
gant  stretch  of  the  constitutional  power  to  construct  another. 
In  fine,  I  am  of  opinion  that  Congress  does,  constitutionally, 
possess  the  power  of  establishing  light-houses,  buoys,  beacons, 
piers,  breakwaters,  and  harbors,  on  the  ocean,  the  Gulf,  the  lakes, 
and  the  navigable  rivers ;  that  it  does  constitutionally  possess  the 
power  of  improving  the  great  rivers  of  the  country,  by  clearing 
out  their  channels,  by  deepening  them,  or  removing  obstructions, 
in  order  to  render  navigation  upon  them  more  safe  for  life  and 
property,  and  that,  for  the  same  reason,  Congress  may  con 
struct  canals  around  falls  in  rivers,  in  all  necessary  cases. 

All  this  authority,  in  my  opinion,  flows  from  the  power  over 
commerce,  foreign  and  domestic,  conferred  on  Congress  by  the 
Constitution ;  and  if  auxiliary  considerations  or  corroborative  ar 
gument  be  required,  they  are  found  in  two  facts,  viz. :  —  First, 
that  improvements  such  as  have  been  mentioned,  whether  on 
the  ocean  or  the  Gulf,  on  the  lakes  or  the  rivers,  are  improve- 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        45 

ments  which,  from  their  nature,  are  such  as  no  single  State,  nor 
any  number  of  States,  can  make,  or  ought  to  be  called  on  to 
make.  All  idea  of  leaving  such  improvements  to  be  undertaken 
by  the  States  is,  in  my  opinion,  preposterous.  In  the  second 
place,  as  all  the  revenue  derived  from  commerce  accrues  to  the 
general  government,  and  none  of  it  to  the  States,  the  charge  of 
improving  the  means  of  commerce  and  commercial  intercourse 
by  such  works  as  have  been  mentioned  properly  devolves  on  the 
treasury  of  that  government,  and  on  that  treasury  alone. 

I  had  intended  to  discuss  at  length  the  President's  veto  of  the 
bill  for  the  indemnification  of  the  sufferers  under  French  spolia 
tions  before  1800.  I  must  omit  much  of  what  I  had  intended 
to  say  on  that  subject,  but  I  will  state  the  history  of  it  in  as  few 
words  as  possible,  so  that  there  may  be  no  mistake  or  misappre 
hension. 

In  the  progress  of  the  French  Revolution,  French  privateers, 
for  whose  conduct  the  government  of  France  was  responsible, 
made,  and  continued  to  make,  spoliations  on  American  com 
merce.  ,  The   United   States  remonstrated,   and  sent  embassy 
after  embassy  to  France.     The  French  government  repeatedly 
promised  indemnification,  but  coupled  these  promises  with  the 
demand,  that  the  United  States  on  their  part  should  carry  into 
effect,  for  the  benefit  of  France,  the  guaranties  of  the  treaty  of 
alliance  of  1778.     After  repeated  attempts  to  come  to  an  under 
standing  on  this  point,  France  insisting  on  her  claims  against 
the   United   States,  growing  out  of  the  treaty  of  alh'ance,  and 
the  American  government  pressing  their  claims  for  spoliations, 
the  result  was  (without  going  into  any  unnecessary  detail  of  the 
negotiation)  an  agreement  between  the  two  governments,  that,  if 
France  would  relinquish  all  claim  on  her  part  to  the  fulfilment  of 
the  treaty  of  1778,  the  United  States  would  relinquish  ah1  claims 
of  our  citizens  on  France,  for  spoliations  up  to  the  year  1800. 
That  was  the  result  of  the  arrangement  between  the  two  govern 
ments  as  contained  in  the  convention  of  that  year.    The  wars  of 
Europe,  however,  continued.    New  depredations  were  made ;  and 
after  the  peace  of  Europe  and  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons, 
and,  indeed,  after  the  accession  of  the  present  king  of  France 
(Louis  Philippe),  the  United  States,  through  the  agency  of  Mr. 
Rives,  in  Paris,  negotiated  a  treaty  with  France  for  the  satisfac 
tion  of  claims  of  American  citizens.     The  terms  were  general 


46        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

They  embraced  all  claims,  and  twenty-five  millions  of  francs,  or 
five  millions  of  dollars,  were  appropriated  by  the  government  of 
France  to  pay  these  claims,  and  a  commission  was  appointed 
by  the  government  of  the  United  States,  to  whom  the  distribu 
tion  of  this  fund  was  intrusted.  This  commission  sat  at  Wash 
ington.  Persons  brought  in  their  claims.  One  man  said,  "  My 
ship  was  captured  in  1801 ;  here  are  my  papers ;  my  loss  was 
$  50,000."  Very  well ;  he  was  paid.  But  here  comes  another, 
whose  ship  was  captured  in  1799,  and  he  says,  "  I  have  a  good 
claim ;  I  had  a  ship  properly  documented,  seized  by  French 
cruisers,  condemned,  and  confiscated.  Here  is  the  register  and 
bill  of  lading ;  my  damages  are  $  50,000."  But  the  commis 
sioners  say,  You  are  not  to  be  admitted  to  partake  in  this  fund, 
because  the  government  of  the  United  States,  by  the  conven 
tion  of  1800,  for  a  consideration  useful  and  of  great  value  to 
itself,  relinquished  to  France  all  claims  up  to  that  time.  Well, 
then,  these  claimants  have  come  to  Congress  for  redress,  in 
sisting,  that,  as  the  government  did  in  fact  apply  their  claims 
to  its  own  use,  it  ought  to  indemnify  the  claimants,  and  Con 
gress,  at  the  last  session,  passed  an  act  for  that  purpose.  Mr. 
Polk  vetoed  the  bill.  This  is  an  unwarrantable  interference  of 
the  veto  power  with  cases  of  private  right,  for  there  is  no  con 
stitutional  question  at  issue. 

What  is  the  ground  assigned  by  the  President  for  so  harsh  a 
procedure  ?  I  have  said  before,  and  I  repeat  it,  that  his  whole 
reasoning  is  trivial.  It  wants  the  dignity  of  an  argument.  He 
says,  for  instance,  to  the  claimants,  "  You  have  been  long  before 
Congress ;  there  is  no  more  reason  for  paying  you  now  than  there 
was  near  half  a  century  ago."  In  the  first  place,  this  is  not  true 
in  fact ;  for  until  within  less  than  twenty  years  it  had  not  been 
decided  that  the  claimants  had  no  right  to  call  further  on 
France.  But  suppose  it  were  so.  Suppose  that  these  claimants, 
in  pursuance  of  a  just  debt,  had  called  upon  Congress  from 
year  to  year,  and  been  put  off  by  one  evasion  or  another,  and 
had  at  last  succeeded  in  convincing  Congress  that  the  debt 
ought  to  be  paid.  Is  it  any  reason  for  negativing  the  bill,  to  say, 
that  there  is  no  more  reason  for  paying  them  now  than  twenty 
years  ago  ?  But  I  am  compelled  for  want  of  time  to  leave  the 
topic,  which  I  will  do  with  a  single  remark.  There  are  oppo 
nents  of  the  administration  who  are  actuated  by  political  dis- 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        47 

satisfaction;  but  by  the  veto  of  this  bill,  which  deprives  so 
many  poor  persons,  widows,  and  orphans  of  their  last  hope,  the 
President  has  touched  the  hearts  of  hundreds  and  thousands 
with  something  much  stronger  than  mere  political  dislike. 

Another  great  subject  of  public  interest  at  the  present  time  is 
the  recent  tariff,  which  I  discussed  when  it  was  established,  and 
about  which  I  have  nothing  new  to  say.  My  object  is,  and  has 
been,  in  every  thing  connected  with  the  protective  policy,  the  true 
policy  of  the  United  States,  to  see  that  the  labor  of  the  country, 
the  industry  of  the  country,  is  properly  provided  for.  I  am  look 
ing,  not  for  a  law  such  as  will  benefit  capitalists,  —  they  can  take 
care  of  themselves,  —  but  for  a  law  that  shall  induce  capital 
ists  to  invest  their  capital  in  such  a  manner  as  to  occupy  and 
employ  American  labor.  I  am  for  such  laws  as  shall  induce 
capitalists  not  to  withhold  their  capital  from  actual  operations, 
which  give  employment  to  thousands  of  hands.  I  look  to  capi 
tal,  therefore,  in  no  other  view  than  as  I  wish  it  drawn  out  and 
used  for  the  public  good,  and  the  employment  of  the  labor  of  the 
country.  Now  on  this  subject  I  shall  hand  to  the  gentlemen  of 
the  press,  a  series  of  resolutions  passed  in  Massachusetts,  which 
I  have  not  now  time  to  read,  but  which  entirely  embody  my 
own  sentiments.* 

I  will  only  say,  that  I  am  for  protection,  ample,  permanent, 
founded  on  just  principles ;  and  that,  in  my  judgment,  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  act  of  1842  are  the  true  principles,  —  specific  duties, 
and  not  ad  valorem  assessment;  just  discrimination,  and,  in 
that  just  discrimination,  great  care  not  to  tax  the  raw  material 
so  high  as  to  be  a  bounty  to  the  foreign  manufacturer  and  an 
oppression  on  our  own.  Discrimination  and  specific  duties,  and 
such  duties  as  are  full  and  adequate  to  the  purposes  of  protec 
tion,  —  these  are  the  principles  of  the  act  of  1842.  Whenever 
there  is  presented  to  me  any  proposition,  from  any  quarter,  which 
contains  adequate  protection,  founded  on  those  indispensable 
principles,  I  shall  take  it.  My  object  is  to  obtain,  in  the  best 
way  I  can,  and  when  I  can,  and  as  I  can,  full  and  adequate  and 
thorough  protection  to  the  domestic  industry  of  the  country, 
upon  just  principles. 

In  the  next  place,  I  have  to  say  that  I  will  take  no  part  in 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  IIL 


48         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

any  tinkering  of  the  present  law,  while  its  vicious  principles  re 
main.  As  far  as  depends  upon  me,  the  administration  shall  not 
escape  its  just  responsibility,  by  any  pretended  amendments  of 
the  recent  law  with  a  view  to  particular  political  interests.  Al 
low  me  to  say,  frankly,  ye  iron  men  and  ye  coal  men  of  Penn 
sylvania,  that  I  know  you  are  incapable  of  compromising  in  such 
a  case ;  but  if  you  were,  and  any  inducements  were  held  out  to 
you  to  make  your  iron  a  little  softer,  and  your  coal  burn  a  little 
clearer,  while  you  left  the  hand-loom  weaver (The  vo 
ciferous  cheering  which  here  burst  forth  drowned  the  remainder 
of  the  sentence.) 

I  understand  there  are  seven  thousand  hand-loom  weavers  in 
the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia;  that  their  wages  have  hith 
erto  averaged  five  dollars  a  week ;  that  the  ad  valorem  duty,  as 
applied  to  cottons,  affects  them  very  injuriously,  in  its  tendency 
to  reduce  wages  and  earnings ;  especially  as  the  wages  of  a 
hand-loom  weaver  in  Scotland  hardly  exceed  one  dollar  and 
seventy-five  cents  or  two  dollars  per  week.  What  the  precise 
result  may  be,  remains  to  be  seen.  The  carpet-weavers,  it  is 
said,  may  find  some  indemnity  in  the  reduced  price  of  wool.  If 
this  be  so,  it  only  shows  that  the  loss  is  shifted  from  the  weaver 
to  the  wool-grower.  Washington  County,  Fayette  County,  and 
other  counties  in  this  State,  will  probably  learn  how  this  is.  In 
the  aggregate  it  has  been  estimated  that  the  value  of  manufac 
tures  in  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia  scarcely  falls  short 
of  the  value  of  those  at  Lowell ;  and  their  production,  it  is  sup 
posed,  employs  more  hands  here  than  are  employed  in  Lowell. 

Gentlemen,  on  the  tariff  I  have  spoken  so  often  and  so  much, 
that  I  am  sure  no  gentleman  wishes  me  to  utter  the  word 
again.  There  are  some  things,  however,  which  cannot  be  too 
often  repeated.  Of  all  countries  in  the  world,  England,  for 
centuries,  was  the  most  tenacious  in  adhering  to  her  protec 
tive  principles,  both  in  matters  of  commerce  and  manufacture. 
She  has  of  late  years  relaxed,  having  found  that  her  position 
could  afford  somewhat  of  free  trade.  She  has  the  skill  acquired 
by  long  experience,  she  has  vast  machinery  and  vast  capital,  she 
has  a  dense  population ;  a  cheaply  working,  because  a  badly  fed 
and  badly  clothed,  population.  She  can  run  her  career,  there 
fore,  in  free  trade.  We  cannot,  unless  willing  to  become  badly 
fed  and  badly  clothed  also.  Gentlemen,  for  the  gymnastic  ex- 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        49 

ercises,  men  strip  themselves  naked,  and  for  this  strife  and  com 
petition  in  free  trade,  our  laborers,  it  seems,  must  strip  them 
selves  naked  also. 

It  is,  after  all,  an  insidious  system,  in  a  country  of  diversified 
arts  and  attainments,  of  varied  pursuits  of  labor,  and  different 
occupations  of  life.  If  all  men  in  a  country  were  merely  agricul 
tural  producers,  free  trade  would  be  very  well.  But  where  divers 
employments  and  pursuits  have  sprung  up  and  exist  together, 
it  is  necessary  that  they  should  succor  and  support  one  another, 
and  defend  all  against  dangerous  foreign  competition. 

We  may  see,  at  this  moment,  what  consequences  result  from 
the  doctrines  of  free  trade  carried  to  extremes.  Ireland  is  a  sig 
nal  example.  The  failure  of  a  potato  crop  half  starves  a  popu 
lation  of  eight  millions.  The  people  have  no  employment  which 
enables  them  to  purchase  food.  Government  itself  is  already 
absolutely  obliged  to  furnish  employment,  often  on  works  of  lit 
tle  or  no  value,  to  keep  the  people  from  positive  famine.  And 
yet  there  are  able  men, —  able  I  admit  them  to  be,  but  theoretic 
men  I  think  them  to  be ;  distinguished  men,  nevertheless,  —  who 
maintain  that  Ireland  now  is  no  worse  off  than  if  all  the  great 
landholders  owning  estates  in  Ireland,  instead  of  living  in  Eng 
land  and  spending  there  the  rents  of  their  Irish  estates,  lived 
in  Ireland,  and  supported  Irish  labor  on  their  farms,  and  about 
their  establishments,  and  in  the  workshops. 

This  opinion  is  maintained  by  theoretical  economists,  not 
withstanding  the  cry  of  Ireland  for  employment,  employment! 
And  has  it  not  come  even  to  that  pass,  that  the  government  is 
obliged  to  employ  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  people  and 
pay  them,  and  put  them  on  works  of  very  little  utility,  merely 
to  give  them  bread  ?  I  wish  that  every  Irishman  in  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  could  be  here  to-night,  so  that  I  could  ask  him 
to  remember  the  condition  of  the  people  of  his  own  country, 
who  are  starving  for  the  want  of  employment,  and  compare  that 
condition  with  his  own,  here  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  has  good 
employment  and  fair  wages. 

Gentlemen,  this  notion  of  free  trade,  which  goes  to  cut  off 
the  employment  of  large  portions  and  classes  of  the  population, 
on  the  ground  that  it  is  best  to  buy  where  you  can  buy  cheapest, 
is  a  folly,  in  a  country  like  ours.  The  case  of  England  is  not 
analogous.  What  is  the  cry  of  free  trade  in  England  ?  Why, 

VOL.   IV.  —  4 


50         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

it  is  for  cheap  bread.  In  England  the  deficiency  is  in  bread. 
Labor  is  limited  in  its  reward.  It  can  earn  but  so  much,  and 
we  have  Mr.  Cobden's  authority  for  saying  that  there  is  a  dis 
position  to  reduce  its  earnings  still  lower.  It  has,  accordingly, 
a  vital  interest  in  reducing  the  price  of  food.  Therefore  free 
trade  in  England  is  but  another  name  for  cheap  bread.  It  is 
not  so  with  us.  What  we  desire  for  our  laboring  population  is 
employment.  We  do  not  expect  food  to  be  cheaper  in  this 
country;  our  object  is  to  make  it  dear;  that  is  to  say,  our  agri 
cultural  interests  desire  to  raise  the  price  of  grain ;  and  the  labor 
ing  classes  can  stand  this,  if  their  employments  are  protected, 
and  the  price  of  labor  kept  up.  Our  hope,  and  let  all  rejoice  in 
it,  is,  that  the  price  of  our  agricultural  productions  may  rise  for 
the  benefit  of  the  farmer.  Manufacturers  and  operators,  so  long 
as  they  get  steady  employment  and  good  wages,  can  buy  at 
any  reasonable  rate. 

These  views  are  confirmed  by  the  practice  of  most  of  the 
civilized  governments  of  the  world.  Who  of  all  Europe  imi 
tates  England  ?  Nobody,  as  far  as  I  know,  except  Holland  and 
Turkey.  Austria,  Russia,  Spain,  and  France  adhere  to  what  I 
call  the  common-sense  doctrine  of  protecting  then*  own  labor. 
M.  Dupin,  in  the  French  Chamber  of  Deputies,  said,  last  year, 
that  the  instincts  of  France  were  in  favor  of  the  protection  of 
French  labor.  Our  American  instincts  from  the  first  have  been 
very  much  of  the  same  character.  Whence  arose  all  those  wow- 
importation  agreements,  soon  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  but 
from  an  instinct,  or  feeling  that  the  interests  of  our  own  indus 
trious  population  ought  to  be  consulted  and  promoted  ?  I 
happen  to  have  a  very  important  document  here,  which  one  of 
your  fellow-citizens  caused  to  be  copied  and  printed  in  a  very 
handsome  manner.  It  is  a  wow-importation  agreement,  entered 
into  in  this  city  as  early  as  1765.  That  was  an  American  in 
stinct  !  Here  are  names  to  be  for  ever  remembered !  I  perceive 
amongst  them  Robert  Morris,  the  financier  of  the  Revolution, 
Charles  Thompson,  the  Secretary  of  Congress,  and  other  illus 
trious  names,  whose  representatives  are  still  amongst  us. 

There  is  one  imputation  that  honest  men  ought  to  resist, 
which  is,  that  the  protective  policy  aids  capitalists,  and  is  meant 
to  do  so,  exclusively.  We  hear  every  day  of  the  great  capital 
ists  and  rich  corporations  of  New  England.  A  word  dissipates 


The   Declaration   of  Independence 

From  the  Painting  by  John  Trumbull,  Yale  School  of 
Fine  Arts,  New  Haven 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        51 

all  this.  A  corporation  in  New  England  is  a  form  of  partner 
ship.  Any  body  enters  into  it  that  chooses.  Where  individuals 
invest  their  property  to  build  a  mill,  they  do  it  in  the  form  of  a 
corporation,  for  the  sake  of  convenience  in  transacting  the  busi 
ness  of  the  concern,  their  private  responsibility  still  remaining  in 
a  qualified  sense.  The  talk  about  rich  and  exclusive  corporations 
is  idle  and  delusive.  There  is  not  one  of  them  into  which  men 
of  moderate  means  may  not  enter,  and  many  such  men  do  enter, 
and  are  interested  in  them  to  a  considerable  extent. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  already  alluded  to  the  great  importance  of 
the  protective  policy,  in  this  State  and  in  other  States,  to  the 
handicrafts.  That  was  the  original  specific  aim  and  design  of  the 
policy.  At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  large 
manufacturing  corporations  were  not  known.  No  great  works 
existed,  though  sagacious  and  far-seeing  men  perceived  that  the 
application  of  water-power  must  one  day  greatly  advance  the 
manufacturing  interests.  At  that  day,  the  handicrafts,  the  me 
chanics,  and  artisans  in  the  city  were  looked  upon  as  those 
whose  labor  it  was  desirable  to  protect.  Will  you  pardon  me, 
Gentlemen,  for  recalling  to  the  recollection  of  your  older  fellow- 
citizens  an  interesting  celebration  which  took  place  in  this  city, 
on  the  4th  day  of  July,  1788.  On  that  day  the  citizens  of  Phil 
adelphia  celebrated  the  Declaration  of  Independence  made  by 
the  thirteen  United  States  of  America  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Constitution  or  frame  of  govern 
ment,  then  recently  adopted  by  ten  States.  A  procession  was 
formed.  The  military  and  companies  of  the  various  trades  and 
professions  united  in  it.  It  was  organized  and  commanded  by 
Generals  Mifflin  and  Stewart,  and  some  other  well-known  per 
sonages.  The  various  companies  displayed  their  flags  and  ban 
ners  with  appropriate  devices  and  mottoes.  Richard  Bache, 
Esq.,  on  horseback,  as  a  herald,  attended  by  a  trumpet,  pro 
claimed  a  "  New  Era."  The  Hon.  Peter  Muhlenberg  carried  a 
blue  flag,  with  the  words  «  17th  of  September,  1787,"  *  in  silver  let 
ters.  Chief  Justice  McKean,  and  his  associates,  in  their  robes  of 
office,  were  seated  in  a  lofty  car,  shaped  like  an  eagle,  and  drawn 
by  six  white  horses.  The  Chief  Justice  supported  a  tall  staff,  on 
the  top  of  which  was  the  Cap  of  Liberty ;  under  the  cap  the 

*  The  day  on  which  the  plan  of  the  Constitution  was  definitively  adopted  by 
the  Federal  Convention,  and  subscribed  by  its  members. 


52        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

"  New  Constitution,"  framed  and  ornamented,  and  immediately 
under  the  Constitution  the  words  *  The  People,"  in  large  gold 
letters.  Next  followed  various  corps  and  troops  and  associa 
tions,  consuls,  collectors,  judges,  and  others.  Then  came  the 
Agricultural  Society,  with  its  flag  and  motto,  "  Venerate  the 
Plough."  Then  the  Manufacturing  Society,  with  their  spinning 
and  carding  machines,  looms,  and  other  machinery  and  imple 
ments.  Mr.  Gallaudet  carried  the  flag,  the  device  on  which  was 
a  Beehive,  standing  in  the  beams  of  the  sun,  bees  issuing  from 
the  hive ;  the  flag  a  blue  silk ;  motto,  "  In  its  rays  we  shall  feel 
new  vigor."  This  was  followed  by  a  carnage  holding  men 
weaving  and  printing.  A  lady  and  her  four  daughters  sat  upon 
it,  pencilling  a  piece  of  chintz,  all  dressed  in  cotton  of  their  own 
manufacture,  and  over  them  all,  on  a  lofty  staff,  was  a  flag  with 
this  motto,  "  May  the  Union  Government  protect  the  Manufac 
tures  of  America."  The  federal  ship  "  Union "  followed  next, 
and  after  her,  boat-builders,  sail-makers,  merchants,  and  others 
interested  in  commerce.  Then  other  trades,  such  as  cabinet  and 
chair-makers,  with  a  flag  and  motto,  "  By  Unity  we  support  So 
ciety."  Next  bricklayers,  with  a  flag  on  which  there  was  a 
brickyard  and  kiln  burning ;  hands  at  work ;  and  in  the  distance 
a  federal  city  building,  with  this  motto,  "  It  was  hard  in  Egypt, 
but  this  prospect  makes  it  easy."  Then  came  the  porters,  bear 
ing  on  their  flag  the  motto,  "  May  Industry  ever  be  encouraged." 
After  them  various  trades  again,  and  then  whip  and  cane-mak 
ers,  with  the  motto,  "  Let  us  encourage  our  own  Manufactures." 
After  them  still  others,  and  amongst  the  last  the  brewers,  with  a 
flag  with  this  motto,  "  Home-brewed  is  best." 

I  now  ask  you,  Gentlemen,  whether  these  sentiments  and 
banners  indicated  that  government  was  to  lay  duties  only  for 
revenue,  and  without  respect  to  home  industry?  Do  you  be 
lieve  the  doctrines  of  Mr.  Polk,  or  those  of  the  citizens  of  Phil 
adelphia  in  1788  ?  (Loud  shouts  of  "  Eighty-eight,"  and  long- 
continued  cheering.) 

Gentlemen,  I  had  intended  to  make  some  remarks  upon  the 
present  state  of  the  finances  and  the  prospects  of  the  public 
treasury.  But  I  have  not  time  to  go  into  this  subject  at  any 
length.  I  can  but  offer  you  a  general  statement. 

For  the  year  ending  30th  June,  1846,  the  Secretary  of  the 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        53 

Treasury  will  be  enabled  to  present  to  Congress  a  more  favora 
ble  state  of  the  finances  than  he  had  previously  estimated. 
In  his  annual  report  at  the  commencement  of  the 
last  session,  he  estimated  the  receipts  of  the  year 

at  $26,820,000 

And  he  stated  that  the  actual  balance  in  the  treas 
ury  on  the  1st  of  July,  1845  (the  beginning  of 
that  year),  was 7.658,000 

Making  the  total  means  for  the  year,  as  estimated,      34,478,000 
He  estimated  the  expenditures  for  the  same  year  at     29,627,000 

Leaving  an  estimated  balance  in  the  treasury  on 
the  1st  of  July,  1846,  of  .  .  4,851,000 

But  it  is  believed  that  the  actual  receipts  for  the 

year  in  question  were  about         ....     29,500,000 
And  the  actual  expenditures  no  more  than  about    .     28,000,000 

If  this  be  correct,  the  actual  receipts  exceeded  the 

Secretary's  estimate  by 2,700,000 

And  the  actual  expenditures  fell  short  of  his  esti 
mate  1,600,000 

Instead,  then,  of  this  balance  remaining  on  the  1st 

of  July,  1846,  as  the  Secretary  estimated,  .  .  4,851,000 

The  actual  balance  in  the  treasury  at  that  date  must 

have  been  about 9,151,000 

Being  $4,300,000  more  than  the  estimate.  Ac 
cordingly,  it  appears  from  the  monthly  statement 
of  the  Treasurer  that  the  balance  in  treasury,  29th 
June,  1846,  was 9,310,000 

But  the  Secretary  will  probably  not  be  so  fortunate  in  respect 
to  his  estimate  for  the  present  fiscal  year,  ending  30th  June, 
1847. 

He  estimates  the  revenue  for  this  year  at        .         .  $  25,000,000 
And  the  expenditures  for  the  same  period  at       .          25,500,000 

The  actual  revenue  for  the  first  quarter  of  the  same 
year,  viz.  from  30th  June  to  30th  September, 
1846,  was  ...  .  6,772,000 

And  the  actual  expenditure  for  the  same  quarter  was     14,088,000 

Leaving  a  deficiency  for  that  quarter  of       .        .         $  7,306,000 


54        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

If  the  first  quarter  be  a  fair  sample  of  the  whole 
year,  both  as  to  the  revenue  and  expenditures, 
the  deficiency  at  the  end  of  the  year  will  be  $  29,224,000 

To  this  deficiency  the  balance  in  the  Treasury  on 
the  1st  of  July,  1846,  is  applicable,  viz.  .  .  9,310,000 

And  the  remainder,  unless  other  provision  be  made, 

goes  to  increase  the  public  debt,  .  .     19,914,000 

The  previously  existing  public  debt  was      .         .          17,075,000 

The  whole  public  debt,  therefore,  on  the  1st  of  July, 
1847,  including  stocks  and  treasury-notes,  on  this 
calculation,  would  be 36,989,000 


These  are,  of  course,  but  estimates,  except  so  far  as  they  are 
collected  from  the  monthly  and  quarterly  reports  from  the  treas 
ury.  It  may  be  that  the  receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  first 
quarter  of  the  present  fiscal  year  will  not  turn  out  to  be  a  true 
index  to  the  remaining  three  quarters.  We  have  yet  to  see,  too, 
what  will  be  the  actual  effect  of  the  new  tariff  on  the  revenue. 
It  is  also  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that,  in  stating  the  above  receipts 
and  expenditures,  no  allowance  whatever  is  made  for  expenses 
incurred,  but  not  yet  defrayed.  The  raising  of  more  troops  of 
course  enhances  the  expense  of  the  war,  and  on  the  whole  it  is 
probable  that  the  deficiency  at  the  end  of  the  year  may  be 
$  30,000,000.  It  is  evident  enough,  that  the  country  is  rapidly 
incurring  a  considerable  debt,  which  must  necessarily  go  on  in 
creasing  while  the  war  lasts.  I  make  the  following  calculation, 
from  the  best  data  in  my  possession. 

Estimated  amount  of  the  public  debt,  if  the  war 

should  continue  till  next  spring,  ...         $  100,000,000 

Annual  interest  of  this, 6,000,000 

Sinking  fund, 2,000,000 

Ordinary  expenses,      .  ...          28,000,000 

36,000,000 

Deduct  income  from  public  lands  and  all  other  sour 
ces,  as  estimated  by  Mr.  Secretary  Walker,  for 
the  year  ending  30th  June,  1847,  .  .  .  2,500,000 

Leaving  to  be  provided  for  by  duties  on  imports,     .     33,500,000 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        55 

Amount  brought  forward,  .  .  .  $  33,500,000 
If  the  imports  under  the  new  tariff  should  be  the 
same  as  they  were  for  the  year  ending  June  30th, 
1845,  say  $  103,000,000,  after  deducting  exports, 
it  is  estimated  that  the  net  revenue  from  imports 
will  be 23,000,000 

Leaving  to  be  raised  by  duties  on  increased  imports,  $  10,500,000 

To  produce  this  sum,  there  must  be  an  increased  importation 
of  $47,021,190,  making  a  total  of  $150,021,190  (after  deduct- 
ing  all  reexports  of  foreign  goods) ,  to  be  consumed  in  the  coun 
try  and  paid  for  if  we  have  the  ability.  The  exports  of  our  ag 
ricultural  products,  fisheries,  &c.,  for  the  present  year  of  short 
crops  of  grain  in  Europe,  will  not  exceed  $  135,000,000,  leaving 
$  15,000,000  to  be  paid  for  in  specie,  which  we  cannot  spare.  Its 
loss  would  immediately  derange  our  currency,  depress  business, 
and  destroy  credit.  If  the  public  debt  should  reach  only  to  fifty 
millions,  then  three  millions  of  annual  expenditure  would  be 
saved,  and  the  exports  of  specie,  on  the  foregoing  calculation, 
be  twelve  millions  instead  of  sixteen. 

I  think  there  will  be  a  great  deficiency,  and  I  rather  expect 
that  the  President  will  recommend  a  tax  upon  tea  and  coffee. 
All  I  have  to  say  is  this,  that  there  was  a  majority  found  in 
either  branch  of  Congress  sufficient  to  carry  the  present  tariff 
measure,  a  measure  which  has,  in  my  judgment  destroyed  the 
best  system  which  this  country  ever  possessed,  —  I  mean  the 
tariff  of  1842,  whether  for  revenue,  or  protection,  or  public  credit. 
This  there  were  majorities  found  to  destroy.  These  same  major 
ities  exist.  By  that  act,  they  struck  off  five  millions  from  the  an 
nual  income.  They  may,  or  may  not,  —  I  will  not  anticipate,  — 
receive  an  equal  amount  under  their  own  new  tariff.  Let  events 
decide  that.  If  they  do  not,  if  they  want  more  money,  if  they 
must  have  more  money,  they  have  the  same  majorities,  for  any 
measures  which  they  may  see  fit  to  adopt.  If  they  will  take 
my  advice,  should  they  be  in  want  of  money,  I  would  say  to 
them,  Restore  what  you  have  destroyed.  Give  us  back  that  sys 
tem  of  credit,  and,  as  soon  as  you  can  honorably,  put  an  end  to 
this  war.  You  may  have  increased  your  public  debt ;  give  us  a 
good  system  to  live  under,  and  pay  under,  and  we  can  meet  the 
loss.  But  if  you  mean  to  overwhelm  us  with  foreign  importa- 


56        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

tions,  if  you  think  you  will  receive,  as  you  will  not,  forty  or 
fifty  millions  of  new  importations,  how  do  you  expect  to  meet 
this  demand  ?  It  is  true,  the  times  favor  and  support  the  hope 
of  getting  along  for  a  little  while  under  the  present  system. 
The  high  price  of  iron  in  England  keeps  up  the  price  of  that  ar 
ticle  here,  whilst  the  famine  in  Ireland,  and  the  general  scarcity 
in  other  parts  of  Europe,  augment  the  exportation  of  American 
produce.  But,  looking  to  the  end,  I  entertain  a  confident  opin 
ion  that  the  importations  of  the  country  will  not  reach  such  an 
amount  as  will  make  good  the  loss  sustained  by  the  destruction 
of  the  tariff  of  1842 ;  and  if  such  importation  should  take  place, 
and  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  foolish  enough  to  pur 
chase  foreign  commodities  to  that  extent,  what  must  be  the  con 
sequences  ?  Why,  that  our  exports  would  not  pay  for  our  im 
ports,  and  the  country  would  be  drained  of  specie.  This  seems 
to  me  inevitable ;  and  derangement  of  the  currency  and  pressure 
in  commercial  affairs  must  follow. 

I  now  take  my  leave  of  the  company  and  of  the  occasion, 
by  returning  thanks  to  the  ladies  who  have  honored  me,  and  all 
of  us,  by  attending  this  meeting.  If  they  have  not  received 
pleasure,  they  have  fulfilled,  so  far,  the  duty  and  destiny  of  the 
sex  in  conferring  it.  If  the  audience  immediately  before  me 
have  sometimes  felt  that  their  ears  were  weary,  their  eyes,  nev 
ertheless,  have  been  always  pleased. 

They  may  well  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of  happy  homes  and 
a  happy  country,  and  in  the  innumerable  blessings  which  Provi 
dence  has  vouchsafed  to  pour  upon  us.  Who  is  there  —  are  there 
any  ?  —  who  can  look  back  with  more  pleasure  and  honest  pride 
upon  the  history  of  the  past  ?  Who  is  there,  in  any  part  of  the 
earth,  that  can  contemplate  the  present  circumstances  which 
surround  them  with  more  satisfaction  than  one  of  this  goodly 
land  ?  And  where  are  there  fathers  and  mothers,  who  can  look 
forward  with  higher  or  better  hopes  for  the  happiness  of  their 
children,  and  their  children's  children,  than  the  fathers  and  moth 
ers  now  before  me  ? 

Let  us  soften  political  duties  and  political  differences  by  sur 
rounding  them  with  friendly  associations  and  kind  feelings ;  and 
while  the  fathers  and  the  sons,  through  successive  generations, 
shall,  with  manly  strength,  uphold  the  pillars  of  the  state,  may 
those  pillars  be  ornamented  by  the  grace  and  beauty  of  mothers 
and  daughters ! 


Appendix 


No.  I.  — Page   38. 


THE  following  is  the  bill  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Webster  as  having  been 
vetoed  by  Mr.  Polk.  The  articles  to  which  the  letter  J.  is  prefixed  are 
such  as  had  been  partly  provided  for  by  appropriations  under  General 
Jackson's  administration. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  a  sum  of 
money  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  appropriated,  to  be  paid  out  of  any 
unappropriated  money  in  the  treasury,  sufficient  for  the  following  pur 
poses,  viz. :  — 

1836.  J.     For  the  continuation  of  the  breakwater  structure  at 

Burlington,  on  Lake  Champlain,  .  .  .  $  15,000 

1836.  J.  For  the  continuation  of  the  breakwater  structure  at 

Plattsburg,  on  Lake  Champlain,  .  15,000 

1836.  J.  For  the  repairs  and  working  of  the  steam  dredge, 

on  Lake  Champlain,   ......        9,000 

For  the  improvement  of  the  Harbor  at  Port  Ontario, 

on  Lake  Ontario, 40,000 

1831,  J.  For  the  improvement  of  the  Harbor  at  Oswego,  on 

Lake  Ontario, 10,000 

1830  J.  For  the  improvement  of  Big  Sodus  Bay,  on  Lake 

Ontario, 5,000 

For  the  improvement  of  Little  Sodus  Bay,  on  Lake 

Ontario, 5,000 

1830.  J.  For  the  improvement  of  the  Harbor  at  the  mouth 

of  the  Genesee  River,  on  Lake  Ontario,  .  10,000 

1830.  J.  For  the  improvement  of  the  Oak  Orchard  Harbor, 

State  of  New  York,  .  7000 

For  the  construction  of  a  dredge  boat,  for  Lake 

Ontario  and  River  St.  Lawrence,          .         .         .      20,000 


58        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

1831.  J.     For  repairing  and  improving  the  Harbor  at  Buffalo, 

on  Lake  Erie,  and  the  continuation  of  the  sea 
wall  for  the  protection  of  the  same,      .         .         .  $  50,000 

1830.  J.     For  improving  the   Harbor  at  Dunkirk,  on  Lake 

Erie, 15,000 

For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Erie,  on  Lake  Erie,         40,000 

1830.  J.     For  improving  Grand  River  Harbor,  on  Lake  Erie,    100,000 

1832.  J.     For  improving  Ashtabula  Harbor,  on  Lake  Erie,  10,000 
1830.  J.     For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Cleveland,  on  Lake 

Erie, 20,000 

1830.  J.     For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Huron,  on  Lake  Erie,       5,000 
For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Sandusky  City,  on 
Lake  Erie, 11,000 

1836.  J.     For  improving  the  River  Raisin  Harbor,  on  Lake 

Erie,          .         .         .* 13,000 

1836.  J.     For  constructing  a  dredge  boat  to  be  used  on  Lake 

Erie, 20,000 

1836.  J.  For  the  improvement  of  the  St.  Clair  Flats,  so  called, 
so  as  to  prevent  their  obstructing  the  passage  of 
vessels  from  Buffalo  to  the  ports  on  Lake  Michi 
gan,  40000 

1830.  J.     For  improving  the  Grand  River  Harbor,  on  Lake 

Michigan,  so  as  to  give  protection  to  vessels  sail 
ing  on  said  lake,          ......      10,000 

For  improving  the  Harbor  at  the  mouth  of  Kalama- 
zoo  River,  on  Lake  Michigan,  so  as  to  give  protec 
tion  to  vessels  sailing  on  said  lake,       .         .         .      10,000 
1836.  J.     For  improving  the  Harbor  at  St.  Joseph,  on  Lake 

Michigan, 10,000 

1831.  J.     For  improving  the   Harbor  at   Michigan  City,  on 

Lake  Michigan, 40,000 

For  the  improvement  of  Little  Fort  Harbor,  on 

Lake  Michigan, 12,000 

For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Racine,  on  Lake 

Michigan, 15,000 

For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Southport,  on  Lake 

Michigan, 10,000 

1836.  J.  For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Milwaukie,  on  Lake 

Michigan, 20,000 

1836.  J.  For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Chicago,  on  Lake 

Michigan, 12,000 

For  constructing  a  dredge  boat,  to  be  used  on  Lake 

Michigan,  .         .  .         .  -      15,000 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        59 

1836.  J.     For  improving  the  Harbor  at  St.  Louis,           .         .  $  75,000 
1836.  J.     For  constructing  a  breakwater  structure  at  Stam 
ford  Ledge,  Maine, 20,000 

1832.  J.     For  improving  the  Harbor  of  Boston,          .         .          40,000 
1836.  J.     For  continuing  the  works  at  Bridgeport,  Connect 
icut,  15,000 

For  removing  the  obstruction  at  the  Crook  in  the 

Harbor  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  .         .        5,000 

1830    J      For  improving  the  Harbor  at  New  Castle,  Delaware,       5,000 

1830.  J.     For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Port  Penn,  Delaware,        5,000 

1830.  J.     For  completing  the  Delaware  Breakwater,     .         .      75,000 

For  removing  obstructions  in  Newark  Bay,  New 

Jersey, 15,000 

1836.  J.     For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Baltimore  City,      .          20,000 
For  the  improvement  of  the   Harbor  at  Havre  de 

Grace,  Maryland, 20,000 

1832.  J.     For  the  improvement  of  Savannah  Harbor  and  the 

sNaval  Anchorage,  near  Fort  Pulaski,  .         .         .      50,000 
1832.  J.     For  the  improvement  of  the  Great  Wood  Hole  Har 
bor,  Massachusetts,     ......        1,450 

1836.  J.     For  the  continuing  the  improvements  of  the  navi 

gation  of  the  Hudson  River,  above  and  below  Al 
bany,  in  the  State  of  New  York,          .         .         .      75,000 

1837.  J.     For  the  improvement  of  the  Ohio  River,  above  the 

Falls  at  Louisville, 80,000 

1830.  J.     For  the  improvement  of  the  Ohio  River,  below  the 

Falls  at  Louisville,  and  of  the  Mississippi,  Missouri, 

and  Arkansas  Rivers,          .         .  .  240,000 

1831.  J.     For  removing  the  Raft  of  Red  River,  and  for  the 

improvement  of  said  river,  .         .  .      80,000 

For  repairs  and  preservation  of  harbor  works  here 
tofore  constructed  on  the  Atlantic  coast,        .  20,000 


No.  II.  — Page  41. 

List  of  Objects  of  Internal  Improvement  for  which  Appropriations  had 
oeen  made  under  preceding  Administrations. 

By  the  Act  of  March  2d,  1829. 
For  extending  the  pier  of  Black  Rock  Harbor,  at  the  outlet  of 

Lake  Erie,  to  a  point  opposite  Bird's  Island,       .  .  $  30,000 


60        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

For  removing  obstructions  at  the  entrance  of  the  Harbor  of 

Big  Sodus  Bay,  on  Lake  Ontario,  ....  $  12,500 

For  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Genesee 

River,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  ....  10,000 

For  improving  the  navigation  of  Conneaut  Creek,  in  the 
State  of  Ohio,  by  removing  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the 
same, 75,000 

By  the  Act  of  23d  April,  1830. 

For  removing  obstructions  at  the  mouth  of  Huron  River, 

Ohio, 1,880.36 

For  completing  the  removal  of  obstructions  at  the  mouth  of 

Grand  River,  Ohio, 5,563.18 

For  completing  the  improvements  of  Cleveland  Harbor, 

Ohio,  1,786.56 

For  removing  sand-bar  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Black  River, 

Ohio,  8,559.77 

For  improving  the  navigation  of  Conneaut  Creek,  Ohio,  .  6,135.65 
For  completing  piers  at  the  mouth  of  Dunkirk  Harbor,  New 

York, 1,342.75 

For  completing  piers  at  Buffalo  Harbor,  New  York,  .  15,488.00 
For  extending  the  pier  at  Black  Rock,  New  York,  .  .  3,198.00 
For  improving  the  navigation  of  Genesee  River,  New  York,  13.335.00 
For  removing  obstructions  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Sodus  Bay, 

New  York, 15,280.00 

For  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 

Rivers, 50,000.00 

By  the  Act  of  March  2<Z,  1831. 

For  removing  obstructions  at  the  mouth  of  Huron  River, 

Ohio, 3,480.00 

For  removing  sand-bar  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Black  River, 

Ohio, 9,275.00 

For  completing  the  removal  of  obstructions  at  the  mouth  of 

Grand  River,  Ohio, 5,680.00 

For  removing  obstructions  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Sodus  Bay, 

New  York,  17,450.00 

For  completing  piers  at  Oswego,  New  York,  .  .  2,812.92 

For  securing  the  works  of  Oswego  Harbor,  New  York,  by 

a  stone  pier  head  and  mole,  .....  18,600.00 

For  completing  the  pier  at  the  mouth  of  Buffalo  Harbor, 

New  York, 12,90000 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        61 

For  securing  and  completing  the  works  at  the  Harbor  of 

Dunkirk,  New  York, $  6,400.00 

For  completing  improvements  of  Cleveland  Harbor,  Ohio,  3,670.00 
For  completing  the  removal  of  obstructions  at  the  mouth  of 

Ashtabula  Creek,  Ohio, 7,015.00 

For  improving  the  navigation  of  Conneaut  River,  Ohio,  6,370.00 

For  improving  the  navigation  of  Genesee  River,  New  York,  16,670.00 

By  the  Act  of  June  28th,  1834. 
For  carrying  on  the  improvements  of  Ocracoke  Inlet,  North 

Carolina,        .  15,000.00 

For  improving  the  navigation  of  Ohio,  Missouri,  and  Missis 
sippi  Rivers,  ....    50,000.00 
For  improving  the  Harbor  of  Chicago,  Illinois,         .         .         32,801.00 
For  the  piers  at  La  Plaisance  Bay,  Michigan,      .         .         .      4,895.00 
For  continuing  and  securing  the  works  at  Oswego  Harbor, 

New  York,  30,000.00 

For  completing  the  works  at  Genesee  River,  New  York,  on 

the  present  plan, 20,000.00 

For  continuing  the   improvements  of  Black  Rock  Harbor, 

New  York,  12,000.00 

For  completing  the  works  at  Buffalo,  New  York,    .         .         20,000.00 
For  completing  and  securing  the  works  at  Cleveland  Har 
bor,  Ohio, .-  13,315.00 

For  repairing  and  securing  the  works  at  Grand  River,  Ohio,  10,000.00 
For  securing  the  works  at  Black  River,  Ohio,  .  .  .  5,000.00 
For  extending  and  securing  the  works  at  Huron  River,  Ohio,  6,700.00 
For  continuing  the  improvements  at  Ashtabula  Creek,  Ohio,  5,000.00 

And  for  defraying  the  expense  of  surveys  pursuant  to  the  Act 

of  the  30th  of  April,  1824,  including  arrearages  for  1833,  29,000 

Of  which  sum  $  5,000  shall  be  appropriated  and  applied 
to  geological  and  mineralogical  surveys  and  researches. 

By  the  Act  of  March  3d,  1835. 

For  improving  the  Harbor  at  Chicago,  in  addition  to  the  bal 
ance  of  former  appropriations,         .....    32,800.00 
For  securing  the  works  at  Black  River,  .         .         .  4,400.00 

For  continuing  the  improvement  at  Ashtabula  Creek,  hi  ad 
dition  to  the  balance  of  former  appropriations,          .         .      7,591.00 
For  completing  the  works  at  Genesee  River,  .         .         .  2,390.00 

For  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Ohio  River  below  the 

Falls,  and  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  Rivers,          .         .    50,000.00 


62        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

For  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Ohio  River 
between  Pittsburg  and  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  to  be  ex 
pended  under  the  direction  of  the  War  Department, 
and  under  the  care  of  a  Superintendent  for  that  part  of 
Ohio, $50,000.00 

For  completing  the  removal  of  the  obstructions  to  the  navi 
gation  of  Red  River,  in  addition  to  the  appropriation  of 
$  50,000  made  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  the  sum  of  50,000.00 

For  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Arkansas  River,  and 

for  constructing  a  boat  with  an  iron  hull,  .  .  40,000.00 

By  the  Act  of  July  7th,  1838. 

For  continuing  the  improvements  of  the  Harbor  of  Chicago, 

Illinois, 30,000.00 

For  continuing  the  construction  of  a  Harbor  at  Michigan 

City,  Indiana, 60,733.59 

For  continuing  the  construction  of  a  pier  or  breakwater  at 

the  mouth  of  the  River  St.  Joseph,  Michigan,  .  .  .  51,113.00 
For  the  continuation  of  the  works  at  the  Harbor  near  the 

mouth  of  the  River  Raisin,  Michigan,  ....  15,000.00 
For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Harbor  at  Whitehall, 

New  York, 15,000.00 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  channel  at  the  mouth 

of  the  Genesee  River,  New  York, 25,000.00 

For  continuing  the  removal  of  obstructions  at  Black  River, 

Ohio, 5,000.00 

For  continuing  the  removal  of  obstructions  at  the,  mouth  of 

the  Huron  River,  in  Ohio, 5,000.00 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  at  the 

mouth  of  Vermilion  River,  Ohio, 3,626.57 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  Cleveland  Harbor,  Ohio,  51,856.00 
For  continuing  the  removal  of  obstructions  at  Cunningham 

Creek,  Ohio, 5,000.00 

For  continuing  the  removal  of  obstructions  at  Ashtabula 

Creek,  Ohio, 8,000.00 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  Dunkirk  Harbor,  New 

York, 10,000.00 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Harbor  of  Portland, 

Lake  Erie,  New  York, 35466.00 

For  continuing  the  improvements  of  the  Harbor  at  Catarau- 

gus  Creek,  Lake  Erie,  New  York,  ....  32,410.00 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Harbor  of  Salmon 

River   Lake  Ontario,  New  York,    .  .         .    30,000.00 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        63 


For  continuing  the  construction  of  a  breakwater  at  Platts- 
burg,  New  York,  ...... 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Harbor  at  the  mouth 
of  Oak  Orchard  Creek,  New  York,  . 

For  continuing  the  improvement  at  Big  Sodus  Bay,  New 
York, 

For  continuing  the  pier  and  mole  at  Oswego  Harbor,  New 
York, 

For  continuing  the  construction  of  a  breakwater  at  Burling 
ton,  Vermont,  ........ 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Cumberland  River 
in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  below  Nashville,  .  . 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Ohio  River  between 
the  Falls  and  Pittsburg, 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
Rivers  from  Louisville  to  New  Orleans,  .  .  . 

For  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  River 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Missouri  River, 

For  continuing  the  removal  of  obstructions  in  Grand  River, 
Ohio, 

For  continuing  the  works  at  Buffalo, 

For  erecting  a  mound  or  sea-wall  along  the  peninsula 
which  separates  Lake  Erie  from  Buffalo  Creek,  to  pre 
vent  the  influx  of  the  lake  over  said  peninsula, 

For  the  improvement  of  the  Arkansas  River, 


,500.00 
5,000.00 
10,000.00 
46,067.00 
50,000.00 
20,000.00 
50,000.00 
70,000.00 
20,000 

10,000.00 
20,500.00 


48,000.00 
40,000.00 


And  le  it  further  enacted,  That  the  several  sums  appropriated  by  the 
first  section  of  this  act,  which  exceed  twelve  thousand  dollars  each,  one 
half  thereof,  if  the  public  service  require  it,  shall  be  paid  out  during  the 
year  1838,  to  be  applied  to  the  objects  above  specified,  and  the  other 
half,  in  like  manner,  in  the  year  1839. 


No.  III.  — Page   47. 
THE  following  are  the  resolutions  referred  to  by  Mr.  Webster :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  passage  of  the  Tariff  Bill  of  1846,  adopting  new 
and  vicious  principles  in  our  revenue  system,  is  a  portentous  experi 
ment,  threatening  disturbance  and  injury  to  the  great  interests  of  the 
country. 


64        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

"  Resolved,  That  from  the  first  establishment  of  the  federal  govern 
ment,  two  principles  have  been  embodied  in  our  revenue  laws  ;  the  first, 
that,  as  far  as  practicable,  all  duties  should  be  specific,  as  most  simple 
in  collection,  and  most  secure  against  fraud ;  the  other,  a  discrimination 
in  the  rates  of  duty,  with  a  view  to  foster  and  protect  the  industry  of  the 
country,  and  to  invite  capital  into  the  establishment  of  manufactures. 

"  Resolved,  That  under  this  system  the  whole  country  has  prospered 
in  a  degree  which  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  nations.  While  the 
Western  wilderness  has  been  giving  place  to  cultivation  and  civilization, 
the  older  States  have  been  transplanting  and  establishing  the  arts  and 
manufactures  of  Europe,  thus  converting  the  whole  country  into  a  scene 
of  active  industry,  in  which  diversified  labor,  mutually  exchanging  its 
products  on  terms  of  equality,  realizes  a  remuneration  and  reward  wholly 
unknown  in  the  overpeopled  countries  of  the  Old  World. 

"  Resolved^  That  we  deprecate  the  changes  introduced  by  the  tariff 
of  1846,  for  the  following  reasons  : 

"  We  deprecate  the  change  from  specific  to  ad  valorem  duties,  as 
affording  increased  facilities  for  fraud,  as  setting  aside  the  light  of  all  ex 
perience,  and  the  opinions  of  all  commercial  men.  We  deprecate  it  as 
a  revenue  measure,  inasmuch  as  it  reduces  the  revenue  upwards  of  five 
millions  of  dollars  on  the  average  importation  of  the  last  three  years, 
while  our  war  expenditures  require  a  great  increase  of  revenue,  and  are 
actually  met  by  an  increase  of  debt  in  the  issue  of  treasury-notes.  We 
deprecate  the  principles  of  attempting  to  provide  for  this  deficiency  by 
an  increased  importation  of  products,  to  come  in  competition  with  our 
own,  displacing  and  paralyzing  to  an  equal  extent  our  own  industry,  and 
eventually  producing  a  great  reduction  in  the  wages  of  labor. 

"  We  further  deprecate  the  principle  of  increasing  the  importation 
of  foreign  manufactures,  always  tending  to  excess,  and  causing  the  ex 
portation  of  specie  in  return,  the  fruitful  source  of  derangement  in  our 
currency,  and  of  embarrassment  in  all  branches  of  trade  and  industry. 
We  deprecate  the  sudden  change,  as  wantonly  sporting  with  the  inter 
ests  of  capital  invested  under  the  implied  pledge  of  government  for  its 
continued  protection.  But  we  deprecate  it  far  more  as  wantonly  sacri 
ficing  the  interests  of  labor,  by  opening  upon  it  the  foreign  competition 
of  the  under-fed  and  overworked  labor  of  Europe,  the  avowed  purpose 
of  the  new  policy.  We  deprecate  it  as  the  result  of  executive  dictation 
and  stringent  party  discipline,  adopted  under  the  coercion  of  a  minority, 
without  examination  and  without  discussion,  against  the  sober  judgment 
of  a  majority  of  both  houses  of  Congress. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  allegation  that  the  protective  system  favors  capi 
tal  more  than  labor,  is  equally  contradictory  to  every  sound  principle 
of  political  economy,  to  all  experience,  and  to  common  sense.  Whilst 


Public  Dinner  at  Philadelphia        65 

capital  is  considered  necessary  to  set  labor  in  motion,  it  is  an  admitted 
principle  that  there  is  a  uniform  tendency,  in  capital  employed  in  differ 
ent  pursuits,  to  an  equalization  of  profits  through  a  free  competition. 
Whilst  other  propositions  are  disputed,  this  is  never  contested.  It  is 
confirmed  by  all  our  experience.  Every  branch  of  manufacture  which 
has  been  successful  has  been  subjected  to  occasional  checks  and  em 
barrassments  through  over-action.  The  prosperity  which  followed  the 
establishment  of  the  tariff  of  1842  has  led  to  new  construction  and  new 
expenditure  in  all  branches  of  industry  beyond  any  former  precedent 
In  fact,  we  are  told  by  the  friends  of  the  administration,  as  if  in  double 
mockery  of  their  own  reasoning  and  our  apprehensions,  that  the  manu 
facturer  has  more  to  fear  from  home  competition  and  over-production 
than  from  any  foreign  competition  which  can  reach  him  under  the  pres 
ent  tariff.  It  is,  in  fact,  obvious  to  the  most  simple  understanding,  that 
the  investment  of  capital  in  works  which  can  only  be  made  productive 
by  the  employment  of  many  hands,  is  putting  capital  in  the  power  of 
labor,  rather  than  in  a  position  to  control  it. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  assertion,  so  often  repeated,  that  the  tariff  of 
1842  has  operated  as  an  unequal  tax  upon  the  laboring  classes,  in  the 
manufactures  consumed  by  them,  is  wholly  destitute  of  truth.  Our  ap 
plication  of  manufacturing  industry  has  always  been  made,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  those  productions  requiring  little  labor  in  proportion  to  the 
raw  material.  In  these  the  success  has  been  greatest,  and  it  is  notorious 
that,  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton,  wool,  leather,  hats,  &/c.,  the  common 
articles  used  by  the  laboring  classes  are  produced  at  prices  which  may 
defy  all  foreign  competition.  Even  the  cotton  minimum,  the  object  of 
so  much  undeserved  obloquy,  is  well  known  to  be  all  but  nominal  in 
respect  to  the  lower  branches  of  the  manufacture,  and  that  its  only  actual 
effect  is  to  levy  a  high  duty  on  its  higher  branches,  on  what  may  well  be 
termed  luxuries. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  the  loss  of  capital  by  this  change  of  system  is 
sudden  and  determinate,  the  effect  upon  labor  will  be  a  continuous 
wasting  disease,  with  no  remedy  but  the  retracing  our  steps. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  high  reward  of  labor,  in  all  its  branches,  is  the 
peculiar  advantage  of  our  country,  is  intimately  connected  with  the  gen 
eral  diffusion  of  education  and  intelligence,  and  is  the  best  security  for 
the  permanence  of  our  free  institutions.  The  protective  system  acts  as 
the  proper  guardian  of  this  boon. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  we  welcome  and  approve  the  repeal  of  the 
British  corn  laws  as  a  concession  and  benefit  to  the  depressed  labor  of 
England,  by  increasing  its  means  of  subsistence,  the  government  is  act 
ing  a  very  different  part  towards  our  own  labor  in  opening  its  products 
to  a  free  competition  with  those  of  the  underpaid  laborers  of  Europe. 
VOL.  iv.  —  5 


66         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

"  Resolved,  That  the  principles  of  free  trade  advocated  by  the  mod 
ern  economists  of  Europe  are  founded  on  a  state  of  society  essentially 
different  from  our  own.  It  contemplates  labor  in  excess,  content  with 
a  bare  subsistence,  and  with  no  hope  of  improving  its  condition.  It  re 
gards  only  the  profits  of  capital.  With  us,  labor  is  active  in  accumula 
tion  for  itself,  going  hand  in  hand  with  capital,  and  requiring  especially 
the  shield  of  the  protective  system  against  foreign  interference. 

"  Therefore  resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Whig  party,  and  of 
all  friends  of  their  country,  to  urge  upon  Congress  the  duty  of  revising 
and  modifying  the  existing  tariff  of  1846,  so  that  it  may  furnish  revenue 
sufficient  for  the  wants  of  the  government,  and  of  reestablishing  the  prin 
ciple  of  specific  duties  in  all  practicable  cases,  and  of  discrimination  in 
the  rates  of  duty  with  a  view  to  foster  and  protect  the  industry  of  the 
country  in  all  its  branches. 

"  Resolved,  That,  whilst  Massachusetts  is  deeply  interested  in  the  pro 
tection  of  her  capital,  and  her  labor  devoted  to  manufacturing  and  the 
mechanic  arts,  it  is  a  great  mistake,  propagated  for  party  purposes,  and 
received  by  a  too  easy  credulity,  that  protection  is  a  local  or  party  pol 
icy.  We  esteem  it  a  policy  equally  favorable  to  every  part  of  the  coun 
try,  and  to  all  the  States  of  the  Union." 


Southern  Tour 


Introductory  Note 


IN  the  month  of  May,  1847,  Mr.  Webster  made  a  visit  to  the  Southern 
Atlantic  States.  He  was  everywhere,  on  his  route,  received  with  great 
respect  and  cordiality ;  and  was  hospitably  entertained  at  Richmond, 
Charleston,  Columbia,  Augusta,  and  Savannah.  His  intention  was  to 
go  as  far  as  New  Orleans,  and  to  return  to  the  North  by  way  of  the 
Mississippi.  Unfortunately  he  was  taken  ill  at  Augusta,  in  Georgia,  and 
was  thus  prevented  from  continuing  his  journey  beyond  that  place. 

Short  speeches  were  made  by  Mr.  Webster  at  the  several  public  re 
ceptions  attended  by  him.  They  were  rendered  peculiarly  interesting 
by  the  unusual  nature  of  such  an  occurrence  as  the  visit  of  a  highly  dis 
tinguished  New  England  statesman  to  the  South,  and  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  he  was  everywhere  welcomed.  No  full  notes,  however, 
of  his  addresses  appear  to  have  been  taken  on  any  of  these  occasions, 
and  hi  most  cases  a  very  brief  summary  is  all  that  remains. 

Of  his  speech  at  a  public  dinner  at  Richmond,  on  the  29th  of  April, 
no  report  whatever,  it  is  believed,  has  been  preserved.  In  addition  to 
his  remarks  on  this  occasion,  in  acknowledgment  of  a  toast  compli 
mentary  to  himself,  Mr.  Webster  rose,  when  the  memory  of  Chief  Jus 
tice  Marshall  was  proposed,  and  pronounced  impromptu  a  brief  eulogy 
upon  the  great  jurist,  which  appears  to  have  been  of  the  most  brilliant 
character.  "  We  have  never,"  says  the  editor  of  a  Richmond  journal, 
"  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  a  more  finished  specimen  of  Ciceronian 
eloquence.  A  gentleman,  whose  taste  and  acquirements  entitle  his  opin 
ions  to  the  utmost  respect,  remarked  to  us,  that  not  Burke  nor  Sheridan 
could  have  been  more  felicitious,  in  giving  utterance  to  thoughts  that 
breathe  and  words  that  burn."  Unfortunately,  no  report  of  these  re 
marks  was  given  to  the  public. 

On  receiving  intelligence  of  his  intended  visit  to  Charleston,  a  number 
of  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  that  place  were  appointed  a  com 
mittee  to  wait  upon  Mr.  Webster  on  his  arrival,  and  tender  him  a 
public  welcome  to  the  city.  It  took  place  on  the  7th  of  May.  On 
the  following  day  a  brilliant  entertainment  was  given  to  him  by  the  New 


70         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

England  Society.  On  the  10th  he  partook  of  a  public  entertainment  by 
invitation  of  the  Charleston  Bar.  On  the  12th  he  was  received  with 
great  distinction  by  the  faculty  and  students  of  the  College  of  South 
Carolina,  at  Columbia.  On  the  17th  he  arrived  at  Augusta,  in  Georgia, 
where  a  public  reception  of  the  most  flattering  kind  awaited  him.  Here, 
however,  he  became  so  much  indisposed,  as  to  be  compelled  to  with 
draw  himself  from  the  projected  hospitalities  of  the  citizens,  as  well  as 
to  forego  the  prosecution  of  his  tour.  On  the  24th  of  May  he  was  suf 
ficiently  recovered  to  proceed  to  Savannah,  in  which  place,  on  the  26th, 
a  public  reception  took  place  in  Monument  Square,  at  the  base  of  the 
monument  to  Greene  and  Pulaski.  On  this  occasion  a  very  interesting 
address  was  made  to  Mr.  Webster  on  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Savan 
nah,  by  Mr.  Justice  Wayne,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
From  Savannah  Mr.  Webster  returned  to  Charleston,  and  immediately 
took  passage  in  a  steamer  for  the  North. 

In  connection  with  the  speeches  made  by  Mr.  Webster,  as  far  as  they 
have  been  preserved,  it  has  been  thought  that  some  of  those  made  by 
other  gentlemen,  on  the  occasions  just  named,  would  be  found  interest 
ing  by  the  readers  of  these  volumes,  particularly  in  the  present  state  of 
public  affairs  in  reference  to  the  relations  between  the  South  and  the 
North.  They  have  accordingly  been  given,  as  far  as  was  practicable, 
with  those  of  Mr.  Webster. 


Arrival  at  Charleston 


THE  Hon.  Daniel  Webster  arrived  in  this  city  yesterday  morning, 
and  took  lodgings  at  the  Charleston  Hotel.  At  12  o'clock,  M.,  he 
was  waited  on  by  the  Committee  of  Reception,  consisting  of  the  fol 
lowing  gentlemen,  viz.  Messrs.  F.  H.  Elmore,  D.  E.  Huger,  James 
L.  Petigru,  William  Aiken,  H.  A.  Desaussure,  Henry  Gourdin,  J. 
B.  Campbell,  Francis  K.  Huger,  B.  F.  Hunt,  J.  B.  Legare,  R.  Yea- 
don,  John  S.  Ashe,  I.  W.  Hayne,  Dr.  John  B.  Irving,  and  Alexander 
Black. 

The  Committee  conducted  Mr.  Webster  to  the  spacious  piazza  or  bal 
cony  of  the  hotel,  which  was  thronged  with  ladies  and  citizens,  gath 
ered  (as  was  also  a  large  crowd  of  citizens  in  the  street  fronting  the 
hotel)  to  give  the  distinguished  guest  a  hearty  welcome  to  the  hospi 
talities  of  Charleston.  Mr.  Webster  was  there  addressed  as  follows, 
by  the  Hon.  Franklin  H.  Elmore,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Re 
ception  :  — 

"  SIR,  —  As  representatives  of  our  fellow-citizens  of  Charleston,  we 
wait  upon  you  to  tender  their  welcome  and  good  wishes.  Having  heard 
that  it  was  your  intention  to  pass  through  their  city,  in  a  tour  through 
the  Southern  States,  undertaken  to  obtain,  by  personal  observation,  a 
better  knowledge  of  their  people,  pursuits,  and  interests,  the  citizens  of 
Charleston,  laying  aside  all  differences  of  political  opinion,  in  a  common 
desire  to  further  your  wishes  and  to  render  your  visit  agreeable,  assem 
bled,  and  unanimously  delegated  to  us  the  pleasing  duty  of  expressing 
to  you  the  great  satisfaction  they  experience  in  thus  meeting  you  in  their 
homes.  Although  they  well  know  there  are  essential  differences  of 
opinion  between  a  great  majority  of  them  and  yourself  and  the  great 
Commonwealth  of  which  you  are  the  trusted  and  distinguished  represent 
ative  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  yet,  on  this  occasion,  they  remember 

*  Abridged  from  the  Charleston  Courier  of  the  8th  of  May,  1847. 


72         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

with  far  more  pleasure,  that,  whilst  at  the  head  of  the  State  Department, 
you  watched  with  fidelity  over  other  sections  of  the  Union  ;  that  the 
South  was  not  neglected,  but  her  interests  and  her  rights  found  in  you 
an  able  and  impartial  vindicator ;  that  you  made,  amongst  other  public 
services,  great  and  successful  efforts  to  preserve  our  relations  in  peace 
and  harmony  with  the  most  free  and  powerful  nation  of  the  Old  World ; 
and  that,  while  you  served  the  general  cause  of  humanity  and  civiliza 
tion  in  so  doing,  you  at  the  same  time  sustained  the  honor  and  promoted 
the  best  interests  of  our  common  country.  They  remember,  too,  that 
Massachusetts  also  is  one  of  the  Old  Thirteen,  that  she  was  the  leader 
in  the  struggles  of  the  Revolution,  and  that,  amid  its  common  trials  and 
dangers,  she,  with  our  own  State,  won  our  common  heritage  of  freedom 
and  a  common  stock  of  glory.  They  feel,  also,  that,  in  these  grateful 
reminiscences,  we  should  be  bound  up  in  a  common  love  for  each  other, 
and  in  an  unalterable  determination  to  honor,  maintain,  and  respect  the 
rights,  welfare,  and  feelings  of  each.  They  hope  to  see  these  tenden 
cies  cherished  and  these  ties  strengthened.  Events,  like  this  now  tran 
spiring  with  us,  conduce  happily  to  such  results.  The  influence  of  pub 
lic  men  is  a  powerful  agency,  and  it  is  very  much  to  be  regretted,  that, 
of  American  statesmen,  whose  enlarged  and  liberal  minds  make  their 
opinions  authority,  and  best  qualify  them  to  understand  their  character 
and  to  do  them  justice  in  their  own,  so  few  travel  into  other  sections, 
and  make  themselves  personally  acquainted  with  and  known  to  their 
distant  countrymen.  In  such  intercourse,  and  in  the  interchange  of 
courtesies  and  opinions,  prejudices  disappear,  misjudgments  are  cor 
rected,  and  a  just  appreciation  of  each  other  created,  leading  to  cordi 
ality  in  feeling,  harmony  in  public  measures,  and  eminently  conducing 
to  their  common  prosperity  and  welfare. 

"  Entertaining  these  views,  our  constituents  heard  of  the  intention  and 
objects  of  your  visit  to  the  South  with  unmixed  satisfaction. 

"  They  are  happy  in  the  opportunity  of  expressing  these  sentiments 
to  you,  Sir,  especially.  They  welcome  you  with  the  frankness  and  cor 
diality  due  to  your  high  station,  to  your  representative  character,  and  to 
your  eminent  abilities.  And  they  will  not,  on  this  occasion,  withhold 
the  expression  of  hopes  which  they  warmly  cherish,  that  Massachusetts 
will  see,  in  all  she  does,  that,  while  South  Carolina  may  not  forbear  the 
maintenance  of  her  own  rights  with  decision,  she  still  entertains  for 
your  State  all  the  kindness  and  affection  due  to  a  sister,  illustrious  for 
her  great  virtues,  her  great  men,  and  her  great  achievements.  For 
yourself,  and  as  her  representative,  again,  Sir,  we  bid  you  a  cordial  wel 
come  to  South  Carolina  and  to  Charleston." 

To  this  address  Mr.  Webster  returned  the  following  reply. 


Arrival  at  Charleston  73 

GENTLEMEN, —  It  would  be  an  act  of  as  great  violence  to  my 
own  feelings,  as  of  injustice  and  ingratitude  to  the  hospitality 
of  the  citizens  of  Charleston,  if  I  should  fail  to  express  my  cor 
dial  thanks  for  the  welcome  you  give  me  in  their  behalf,  and  to 
reciprocate,  to  you  and  to  them,  my  sincere  respect  and  good 
wishes. 

You  are  quite  right,  Gentlemen,  in  supposing  that  my  pur 
pose,  in  undertaking  the  tour  which  has  brought  me  into  the 
midst  of  you,  is  to  see  the  country,  and  the  people  of  the  country, 
and  to  obtain  a  better  and  fuller  knowledge  of  both.  Hitherto, 
I  have  not  been  a  visitor  so  far  south;  and  I  was  unwilling, 
quite  unwilling,  to  be  longer  a  stranger,  personally,  in  the  South 
ern  States.  The  citizens  of  Charleston  do  me  an  honor,  which 
I  most  deeply  feel,  when  they  say,  through  you,  that  they  have 
satisfaction  in  meeting  me  at  their  own  homes,  and  wish  to  ren 
der  my  visit  agreeable.  When  one  is  made  welcome  to  the 
homes  of  Charleston,  I  am  quite  aware  that  the  warmth  of  hos 
pitality  can  go  no  further. 

Undoubtedly,  Gentlemen,  differences  of  opinion  on  many 
subjects  exist  between  your  fellow-citizens  and  myself,  and  be 
tween  South  Carolina  and  Massachusetts.  But  how  poor  must 
oe  that  spirit,  a  spirit  which  I  am  sure  prevails  neither  here  nor 
in  Massachusetts,  which  out  of  these  differences  would  extract 
cause  of  social  alienation  or  personal  disrespect !  What  would 
be  the  value  of  our  political  institutions,  if  men  might  not  differ 
on  public  questions,  without  sacrificing  mutual  esteem  or  de 
stroying  the  sense  of  common  brotherhood  ?  We  have  diverse 
political  sentiments,  but  we  have  but  one  country.  We  may 
differ  as  to  the  best  manner  of  serving  and  honoring  that  coun 
try,  but  we  agree  that  she  is  to  be  served  by  all  to  the  utmost 
of  their  power,  and  honored  by  all  with  filial  reverence  and  pa 
triotic  devotion.  If  we  do  not  always  think  alike,  we  all  feel 
alike.  We  feel  that  much  of  the  individual  happiness,  as  well 
as  the  national  renown,  which  belongs  to  us  now,  or  may  belong 
to  us  hereafter,  does  and  will  attach  to  us  as  the  undivided,  and 
I  hope  always  the  indivisible,  members  of  the  great  American 
republic. 

I  am  happy,  Gentlemen,  if  you  think  that,  while  discharging 
the  duties  of  Secretary  of  State,  I  paid  just  regard  to  the  pro 
tection  of  Southern  interests.  In  my  judgment,  those  interests, 


74         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

important  in  themselves,  were  connected  with  grave  questions 
of  public  law,  questions  touching  the  immunity  of  flags,  and 
the  independence  and  equality  of  nations  upon  the  ocean. 
To  the  magnitude  of  these  questions  I  could  not  be  insen 
sible.  It  is  true  that  they  commanded  my  utmost  attention; 
and  if  the  result  has  been  greater  freedom  from  annoyance, 
more  security  for  maritime  rights,  and  a  general  advance  in 
the  maintenance  of  peace  and  the  friendly  intercourse  of  na 
tions,  I  am  bound  to  ascribe  this  result  rather  to  the  concur 
rence  of  fortunate  circumstances,  and  to  the  encouragement 
and  support  of  others,  than  to  any  ability  displayed  in  my 
efforts. 

I  concur  with  you  cordially,  Gentlemen,  in  the  sentiment,  that 
mutual  intercourse  strengthens  mutual  regard ;  and  that  the 
more  citizens  of  different  parts  of  the  country  see  of  one  another, 
the  more  will  asperities  be  softened,  and  differences  reconciled. 
I  may  undertake  to  say,  for  Massachusetts,  that  she  is  ready,  at 
all  times,  to  meet  and  to  return  the  respect  and  the  hospitality 
of  South  Carolina ;  and  that  she  remembers  ancient  ties  of  union 
and  fraternity ;  that  she  acknowledges  a  common  interest,  and 
a  common  fate,  in  a  common  country ;  that  there  is  nowhere  a 
juster  or  a  higher  appreciation  of  the  men,  or  the  deeds,  of  this 
her  sister  State ;  and  nowhere  the  prevalence  of  more  earnest 
wishes  for  whatever  may  advance  her  prosperity  and  distinc 
tion. 

Gentlemen,  I  come  among  you,  with  my  family,  as  travellers, 
but  not  feeling  that  we  are  entirely  strangers.  I  wish  to  attract 
no  ostentatious  notice,  but  desire  only  to  be  regarded  as  a  fellow- 
countryman  and  a  fellow-citizen,  and  to  see  the  country  and  the 
people  without  formality  or  constraint. 

Thanking  you,  and  the  citizens  of  Charleston,  again,  for 
the  cordial  welcome  extended  to  me,  it  remains  that  I  offer 
you,  Gentlemen,  personally,  the  assurance  of  my  high  re 
gard  ;  and  to  this  concourse  of  your  fellow-citizens,  which  now 
surrounds  us,  and  whose  assembling  together,  on  this  occa 
sion,  I  regard  as  so  respectful,  and  so  imperatively  demand 
ing  my  grateful  acknowledgments,  I  must  tender  my  sincere 
respects. 

Citizens  of  Charleston !  I  am  happy  to  regard  you  as  coun 
trymen  !  We  are  born  to  the  same  inheritance,  won  by  the  same 


Arrival  at  Charleston  75 

patriotism  and  the  same  valor.  New  England  blood  has  mois 
tened  the  soil  where  we  now  stand,  shed  as  readily  as  at  Lexing 
ton,  or  Concord,  or  Bunker  Hill.  May  it  prove  a  durable  ce 
ment  of  the  union  of  our  respective  States !  And  may  many 
generations,  now  far  off,  find  themselves,  when  they  arrive,  as  we 
now  find  ourselves,  a  free,  respectable,  united,  and  prosperous 
community!  I  pray  you,  Gentlemen,  accept  my  sincere  good 
wishes  for  you  all 


Dinner  of  the  New  England  Society 


ON  the  8th  of  May  a  public  dinner  was  given  to  Mr.  Webster,  in  St. 
Andrew's  Hall,  by  the  New  England  Society.  In  the  lamented  ab 
sence,  caused  by  indisposition,  of  the  venerable  President,  Doddridge 
Crocker,  Esq.,  the  chair  was  occupied  by  A.  S.  Willington,  Esq., 
Vice-President.  The  entertainment  was  attended  by  a  large  company, 
consisting  of  members  of  the  Society,  and  of  the  most  distinguished 
citizens  of  Charleston  and  the  vicinity,  present  by  invitation.  After  a 
toast  from  the  chair  in  honor  of  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina, 
Hon.  B.  F.  Hunt,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  day,  spoke  as  fol 
lows  :  — 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT,  —  As  our  Society  dispenses  with  the  usual  formali 
ties  of  a  set  occasion,  and  is  determined  to  receive  our  guest  as  an 
old  family  friend  and  connection,  whom  we  have  found  journeying 
through  the  land  of  our  adoption,  I  shall  take  leave  to  invite  your  at 
tention  to  a  few  observations,  after  which  I  shall  propose  a  toast. 

"  Our  experience  authonzes  us  to  assure  him,  that  he  will  return  to 
his  own  New  England  farm  more  attached  than  ever  to  that  Constitution 
which,  we  trust,  is  destined,  through  all  time  to  come,  to  bind  together 
all  parts  of  our  country  in  one  great  and  glorious  republic  ;  each  State 
governing  its  own  internal  affairs,  which  practical  experience  enables 
it  to  do  wisely,  while  the  federal  government  is  left  free  to  manage  our 
national  concerns. 

"  We  hail  with  pleasure  the  interchange  of  unofficial  and  social  inter 
course  by  the  statesmen  of  the  different  quarters  of  the  country.  It 
cannot  fail  to  wear  away  that  distrust  which  is  prone  to  render  stran 
gers  distant  and  suspicious,  and  I  may  add  selfish,  in  their  conduct  of 
affairs. 

M  We  believe  that  the  more  Americans  see  and  know  of  each  other  at 

*  Abridged  from  the  Charleston  Courier  of  the  10th  of  May,  1847. 


Dinner  of  the  New  England  Society    77 

home,  the  more  easily  will  they  be  convinced  that,  although  their  inter 
nal  arrangements  may  differ,  all  can  join  in  a  cordial  and  hearty  union 
as  one  great  people.  A  mutual  respect,  reciprocal  benefit,  and  social  in 
tercourse  will  every  day  diminish  those  causes  of  difference  that  some 
times  mar  the  harmony  of  our  counsels.  Each  State  will  thus  respect 
and  regard  the  institutions  and  social  arrangements  of  every  other,  and 
all  combine  to  elevate  and  extend  the  honor  and  interests  of  the  only 
republic  which  in  art  and  in  arms  maintains  a  proud  equality  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth. 

"  No  States  have  more  reason  to  entertain  the  most  cordial  relations 
than  South  Carolina  and  Massachusetts.  When  the  port  of  Boston  was 
shut,  and  the  stubborn  spirit  of  her  people  rebuked  and  controlled  by 
armed  foreigners,  South  Carolina,  distant  as  she  was  from  the  scene  of 
wrong,  and  not  necessarily  included  in  its  immediate  effect,  disdained 
to  profit  by  the  sufferings  of  a  sister  colony,  but  promptly  made  common 
cause  with  the  Bay  State,  and  resolved  to  cheer  her  spirits  and  share 
her  fortunes. 

"  The  scenes  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill  soon  roused  her  kindred 
spirit  into  action  ;  —  the  military  stores  and  forts  were  seized  ;  —  South 
Carolina  became  a  rebel  colony,  and  a  British  fleet  entered  Charles 
ton  harbor.  If  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims  fired  the  first  morning  gun 
of  freedom's  glorious  day,  Fort  Moultrie  thundered  forth  a  gallant 
response,  and  rendered  immortal  the  ever  green  Palmetto.  The  op 
pressor  was  taught  that  the  good  Old  Thirteen,  when  right  and  liberty 
were  at  stake,  were  animated  with  one  spirit,  and  true  to  their  kindred 
blood. 

"  The  sons  of  the  wanderers  of  the  Mayflower  united  with  the  descend 
ants  of  the  Huguenot  in  a  firm  phalanx,  and  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder 
during  the  dark  and  stormy  days  of  the  Revolution.  Is  it  not  fitting,  then, 
that  their  posterity  should  hand  down  to  unborn  ages,  unimpaired,  that 
fraternal  kindness  which  was  born  of  a  common  conflict  and  a  common 
triumph  ? 

"  Fortune  resolved  to  leave  out  no  element  essential  to  a  perpetual 
and  friendly  union  of  the  North  arid  the  South.  The  generous  and  high- 
souled  chivalry,  that  led  South  Carolina  without  hesitation  to  peril  her 
own  existence  in  a  combined  opposition  to  the  oppression  by  which  the 
legislation  of  the  mother  country  was  seeking  to  humble  and  crush  for 
ever  the  unyielding  spirit  of  New  England,  was  never  to  be  forgotten. 
When  overwhelming  military  power  had  laid  prostrate  the  fortunes 
of  the  South  and  held  her  gallant  spirits  bound  in  inaction,  —  in  this 
daik  hour  of  her  fate,  the  military  spirit  of  a  New  England  mechanic 
conceived  the  project  of  rescuing  the  South  at  every  hazard,  and  gave 
pledge  to  Washington  to  do  so  or  perish  in  the  effort. 


78         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

"  Perilous  as  was  the  attempt,  the  commander-in-chief  resolved  to  in 
dulge  the  aspirations  of  his  favorite  general ;  and  after  a  march,  which 
might  be  tracked  by  the  bloody  footsteps  of  his  barefoot  and  almost 
naked  followers,  the  troops  of  Greene  were  united  with  the  followers  of 
Sumpter  and  Marion.  Every  gallant  warrior  of  the  South  started  at 
the  beat  of  the  drum  and  the  blast  of  the  clarion  from  the  North.  Con 
flict  followed  conflict,  until,  one  by  one,  every  post  of  the  enemy,  from 
Ninety-six  to  Charleston,  fell  before  their  united  valor.  The  tide  of 
war  was  rolled  back,  until  at  Yorktown  the  sword  of  the  proud  Corn- 
wallis  was  delivered  to  another  son  of  New  England,  and  Lincoln  was 
accorded  a  noble  retribution  for  his  gallant  but  unsuccessful  defence  of 
Charleston  during  its  protracted  siege. 

"  Every  battle-field  of  our  State  contains  beneath  its  sod  the  bones 
of  New  England  men,  who  fell  in  the  defence  of  the  South.  Is  it 
not  right  that  the  land,  won  by  the  united  energies  and  sprinkled 
with  the  common  blood  of  both,  should  remain  for  ever  one  heritage, 
where  the  descendants  of  those  who  made  it  freedom's  sacred  soil 
may  recognize,  in  its  whole  length  and  breadth,  4  their  own,  their 
native  land,'  the  land  their  fathers  held  by  the  glorious  title  of  the 
sword  ? 

"  It  is  in  this  feeling  that  we  hold  every  son  of  the  South  entitled  to  a 
home  and  a  welcome  among  the  green  hills  and  pure  streams  of  New 
England. 

"  The  North  and  the  South  are  but  apartments  in  the  house  of  our 
fathers,  and  long,  long  may  their  inmates  live  in  harmony  together  in 
the  ennobling  relations  of  children  of  the  common  conquerors  of  a  com 
mon  country. 

"  You,  Sir,  for  the  first  time,  look  upon  that  sunny  side  of  the  national 
domain  where  we  have  planted  our  habitations  and  garnered  up  our 
hearts.  Here  are  our  homes  and  our  altars,  here  is  the  field  of  our  la 
bors,  here  are  the  laws  and  institutions  which  protect  us ;  here,  too,  are 
to  many  the  birthplace  of  their  children  and  their  own  destined  graves ; 
here  our  first  allegiance  is  due,  which  we  feel  is  in  all  things  consist 
ent  with  fidelity  to  the  great  republic  of  which  our  State  is  an  integral 
portion.  Neither  have  we  forgotten  the  happy  days  of  early  life,  those 
well-loved  scenes  of  '  our  childhood's  home.'  Fidelity  to  the  land 
of  our  adoption  finds  no  guaranty  in  a  renegade  desertion  of  that  of 
our  birth  ;  but  we  turn,  with  feelings  of  cherished  veneration,  to  where 
our  fathers,  in  sorrow  and  privation,  laid  the  deep  foundations  of  a  new 
empire,  based  on  the  eternal  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
and  sustained  by  general  education  and  public  and  private  virtue.  We 
hallow  their  memories  and  tread  with  reverence  on  their  graves.  Our 
filial  piety  is  not  abated  by  distance,  and  we  hail  the  coming  among 


Dinner  of  the  New  England  Society    79 

us  of  a  worthy  son  of  New  England  as  a  messenger  from  our  father 
land. 

"  We  recognize  in  you  one  who  has  exhibited  the  influence  of  her  in 
stitutions  in  a  resplendent  light.  The  son  of  a  New  England  farmer, 
the  pupil  of  the  free  schools  and  college  of  your  native  State,  your  own 
energies  have  placed  you  on  an  elevation  at  the  bar,  in  the  Senate,  and  in 
the  cabinet,  where  the  civilized  world  can  behold  an  orator,  a  jurist,  and 
a  statesman,  who  bears  no  adventitious  title,  and  yet  is  known  and  rec 
ognized  by  nature's  own  stamp  of  greatness. 

"  As  a  diplomatist,  you  have  secured  peace  without  any  sacrifice  of 
national  honor,  and  may  wear  your  civic  crown  as  proudly  as  the  vic 
torious  soldier  does  his  plume.  We  shall  record  your  visit  in  our  ar 
chives  as  a  part  of  our  annals,  and  the  recollection  of  it  will  always  be 
among  the  most  acceptable  reminiscences  in  the  history  of  our  Society. 

"  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen,  I  offer  as  a  toast,  — 

"  Our  guest :  He  has  a  heart  large  enough  to  comprehend  his  whole 
country,  —  a  head  wise  enough  to  discern  her  best  interests ;  we  cheer 
him  on  his  way  to  view  her  in  all  her  various  aspects,  well  assured  that, 
the  more  he  sees  of  her,  the  better  he  will  like  her." 

This  address  and  sentiment  having  been  received  with  loud  and  re 
peated  cheers  and  applause,  Mr.  Webster  rose  and  made  the  following 
reply.* 

GENTLEMEN,  —  I  am  bound  to  say  a  few  words  in  acknowledg 
ment  of  the  numerous  kind  things  which  have  been  said  by  the 
gentleman  who  has  just  addressed  you,  and  the  kind  manner  in 
which  they  have  been  received  by  the  company.  In  answer  to  the 
testimonials  of  respect  and  the  high  compliments  so  eloquently 
paid  me  by  my  New  England  friend,  I  must  be  permitted  to 
say,  that  it  is  a  high  source  of  gratification  to  me  to  find  my 
self  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  the  long-renowned  and  hospitable 
city  of  the  South,  among  those  whom  I  regard  as  fellow-country 
men,  and  who  look  upon  me  in  the  same  light.  The  marks 
of  respect  and  affection  thus  tendered  have  penetrated  my 
heart  with  the  most  grateful  emotions.  Colonel  Hunt  has  been 
pleased,  with  much  propriety  and  eloquence,  to  refer  to  that  great 
instrument  of  government,  the  Constitution,  and  to  speak  of  it 
in  terms  habitual  to,  and  expressive  of  the  sentiment  of,  all  Amer 
ican  bosoms.  Whatever  difference  of  opinion  may  exist  with 

*  The  reporter,  from  whose  notes  this  speech  is  here  given,  makes  an  earnest 
apology  for  the  entire  inadequacy  of  his  sketch. 


8o        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

regard  to  some  of  its  purposes,  all  agree  that  it  is  the  basis  of 
our  liberty,  the  cement  of  our  Union,  and  the  source  of  our  na 
tional  prosperity  and  renown.  True,  the  cardinal  principle  of 
that  instrument  and  the  interpretation  of  some  of  its  provisions 
have,  at  times,  led  to  agitating  discussions  and  dangerous  excite 
ments,  but  every  thing  is  now  calm  and  repose,  and 

"  All  the  clouds  that  lowered  upon  our  house 
Tn  the  deep  bosom  of  the  ocean  buried." 

I  take  great  pleasure,  Sir,  in  marking  the  wise  choice  that  the 
sons  of  New  England  around  me  have  made,  in  coming  to  this 
State.  I  trust  they  were  not  very  badly  off  at  home,  but  they 
appear  to  be  exceedingly  comfortable  here.  Since  "  the  loud 
torrent  and  the  whirlwind's  roar "  did  not  "  bind  them  to  their 
native  mountains  more,"  they  have  not  only  acted  wisely  in 
coming  hither,  but,  if  they  must  make  a  change,  I  really  think 
they  could  not  have  made  a  better. 

Where  on  this  continent  is  there  a  higher  freedom  of  social 
enjoyment,  or  a  more  ready  extension  of  the  relations  of  private 
friendship  and  the  courtesies  of  refined  society,  than  in  this  city 
and  State  ?  Nor  can  I  forbear  a  tribute  to  the  intelligence,  enter 
prise,  and  hospitality  of  the  citizens  of  Charleston,  where  the  ex 
iled  and  the  oppressed  of  the  earth,  and  the  victims  of  religious 
persecution,  the  Huguenot  as  well  as  the  Puritan,  have  ever  found 
a  sanctuary  and  a  home ;  whither,  as  the  name  of  this  hall  in 
structs  us,*  the  enterprising  North-British  merchant  resorts  in 
the  prosecution  of  business,  and  for  convivial  enjoyment;  and 
where  that  other  people,  the  hapless  sons  of  Ireland,  in  our  day 
the  subjects  of  so  much  suffering,  and  to  whose  relief  the  whole 
of  our  land,  both  North  and  South,  are  now  hastening  with  one 
heart  and  one  purse,  have  also  gathered  as  the  home  of  the  op 
pressed. 

My  friend  has  been  pleased,  in  speaking  of  my  public  services, 
to  refer  to  my  influence  over  recent  negotiations,  connected  with 
the  preservation  of  the  peace  of  the  earth.  Our  true  national  pol 
icy  is  a  policy  of  peace.  I  have  not  felt,  for  many  years,  that  it 
is  at  all  necessary  for  us  to  make  farther  displays  of  prowess  in 
arms  in  order  to  secure  us  an  enduring  national  renown.  There 
is  no  danger  that  we  shah1  be  underrated  in  the  scale  of  nations, 

*  St.  Andrew's  Hall. 


Dinner  of  the  New  England  Society    81 

by  any  defect  in  this  particular.  With  these  views,  I  have  in 
my  public  course  directed  my  best  efforts  to  promote  the  peace  of 
the  world,  deeming  that  policy  best  for  the  honor  and  prosperity 
of  our  land,  and  in  closest  conformity  to  the  benign  precepts  of 
Christianity  and  the  humane  spirit  of  modern  civilization. 

In  reference  to  this  policy,  I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  able 
and  honorable  bearing  of  the  distinguished  sons  of  South  Caro 
lina  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  On  all  the  great  questions  of 
peace  and  war,  and  other  questions  of  national  interest,  that 
have  been  discussed  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  they  have  been 
arrayed  on  the  side  of  the  country,  and  a  large  debt  of  gratitude 
is  then*  due. 

It  is  natural  on  an  occasion  like  this  to  reflect  on  the  advanta 
ges  to  be  derived  from  free  intercourse  between  the  inhabitants  of 
the  various  sections  of  the  Union,  and  on  the  importance  of  per 
sonal  communication,  to  enable  us  to  see  and  know  more  of  one 
another,  convinced  as  I  am,  that,  the  more  we  see  and  know  of 
each  other,  the  higher  will  be  our  mutual  appreciation,  the  great 
er  will  be  our  deference  for  each  other's  judgments  and  opinions, 
and  that,  by  cultivating  reciprocal  feelings  of  kindness  and  cour 
tesy,  the  stronger  will  be  our  ties  of  fraternal  peace  and  con 
cord,  the  stronger  the  great  bond  of  union  which  holds  us  to 
gether  as  United  States.  These  considerations  are  especially 
applicable  in  this  era  of  developments  so  favorable  to  transporta 
tion  and  conveyance,  in  which  distance  is  so  much  less  measured 
than  formerly  by  space  than  time. 

Nobody,  Sir,  will  expect  a  set  speech  from  me  at  this  social 
board.  I  have  had  enough  of  such  speeches  elsewhere.  I  feel 
that  it  would  be  entirely  out  of  keeping  with  the  unceremonious 
character  of  the  occasion  to  inflict  on  the  company  a  formal  ad 
dress.  Enough  has  been  already  said  by  me ;  and  it  only  re 
mains  for  me  to  tender  my  most  earnest  and  cordial  good  wishes 
for  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  citizens  of  Charleston  and 
the  people  of  South  Carolina. 

Mr.  Webster  concluded  with  the  following  toast :  — 

The  people  of  South  Carolina :  Distinguished  for  their  hos 
pitality  and  high  social  virtues,  —  as  much  so,  as  for  the  great 
names  which,  at  all  times,  they  have  given  to  the  public  service 
of  the  country. 
VOL.  iv.  —  6 


82         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

The  great  cheering  and  applause  with  which  Mr.  Webster's  address 
had  been  received  having  subsided,  he  rose  and  remarked  that  he  was 
happy  to  see,  among  the  guests  and  sons  of  South  Carolina  around  this 
festive  board,  a  distinguished  gentleman  (General  James  Hamilton) 
with  whom  he  had  the  honor  to  serve  many  years  since,  (he  did  not 
mean  to  insinuate  that  the  gentleman  was  an  old  man  any  more  than  to 
put  himself  in  that  category,)  in  the  national  councils,  and  to  whose  gal 
lantry,  vigor,  and  courtesy  in  debate,  he  took  pleasure  in  bearing  ample 
testimony.  He  proposed,  therefore,  "  The  health  of  General  Ham 
ilton." 

This  toast  was  acknowledged  by  General  Hamilton  in  the  following 
speech. 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY, — 
Although  I  have  retired  from  public  life  during  the  last  three  or  four 
years,  and  hence  am  in  no  small  degree  out  of  the  practice  of  public 
speaking,  I  nevertheless  feel,  under  the  inspiring  invocation  of  our  dis 
tinguished  guest,  that  I  am  not  absolutely  bereft  of  the  faculty  of  speech, 
although  overwhelmed  with  the  value  of  the  compliment  he  has  paid 
me,  and  the  large  addition  you  have  made  to  it  by  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  it  has  been  received. 

"  I  deem  myself  peculiarly  fortunate,  that,  in  a  brief  and  accidental 
visit  I  have  paid  to  this  city,  I  should  be  present  to  unite  with  you  in 
those  just,  and  to  yourselves  eminently  honorable  tributes,  which  you 
have  paid  to  the  distinguished  genius  and  estimable  private  worth  of  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts. 

"  It  is  true  that  I  served  some  four  or  five  years  on  the  floor  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  with  this 
gentleman,  during  the  discussion  of  many  interesting,  and  I  may  say 
some  heart-burning  questions. 

"  I  have  often  witnessed,  and  sometimes  felt,  his  extraordinary  vigor 
in  debate.  But  if  I  have  been  made  sensible  of  this,  I  have  likewise  rec 
ognized  the  gentlemanly  courtesy,  amiable  temper,  and  generous  spirit 
of  contest  which  he  uniformly  carried  into  every  discussion,  surpassed, 
if  it  was  possible,  alone  by  those  fine  social  qualities  around  the  festive 
board,  in  the  atmosphere  of  which,  the  torch  of  party  spirit,  if  it  was  not 
at  once  extinguished,  at  least  was  lost  in  the  blaze  of  his  genius,  or  in 
the  broad  glare  of  the  convivial  sympathies  which  flowed  from  his  kind 
and  benevolent  heart. 

"  I  am  happy  to  greet  him,  Sir,  in  the  home  of  my  fathers.  It  is 
right  and  fitting  that  he  should  come  among  us ;  that  the  favored  son  of 
old  Massachusetts  Bay  should  at  last  see  how  old  South  Carolina-  stands, 
and  what  sort  of  people  we  are,  after  a  lapse  of  more  than  eighty  years 


Dinner  of  the  New  England  Society    83 

since  those  two  then  heroic  Colonies  were  united  in  common  league  to 
achieve  the  independence  of  our  common  country. 

"  This  remark,  Sir,  recalls  to  my  recollection  a  cherished  tradition  in 
my  own  family.  A  fact  which  you  will  find  confirmed  in  the  biograph 
ical  history  of  our  country,  in  a  highly  interesting  life  of  Josiah  Quincy, 
Jr.,  written  by  his  son,  the  late  distinguished  President  of  Harvard  Uni 
versity. 

"  When  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  and  John  Adams  determined  to 
resist  the  oppressions  of  the  mother-country,  they  sent  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr. 
(than  whom  a  more  gallant  and  accomplished  spirit  our  Revolution  did 
not  produce)  to  South  Carolina,  to  obtain  the  support  of  this  Cavalier  and 
Huguenot  Colony,  the  very  pet  of  the  British  crown,  to  stand  by  them 
in  the  coming  struggle.  The  first  person  on  whom  Mr.  Quincy  called 
was  my  grandfather,  Thomas  Lynch,  Sen.,  who,  with  a  princely  for 
tune,  had  staked  every  thing  from  the  jump  in  the  glorious  contest,  and 
who,  as  early  as  the  first  Congress  after  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act, 
wrote  and  reported,  as  a  delegate  from  South.  Carolina,  one  of  the  ad 
dresses  of  the  Colonies  to  the  Imperial  Parliament.  Mr.  Quincy,  coming 
by  land  from  Boston,  drove  up  to  my  grandfather's  residence  on  South 
Santee,  then  and  now  called  Peach-Tree.  After  communicating  his 
mission,  which  met  with  the  warm  concurrence  of  my  distinguished  rel 
ative,  they  both  instantly  started  for  Charleston,  and  in  the  house  of 
Miles  Brewton  (the  late  residence  of  the  late  Colonel  William  Alston,  in 
King  Street),  then  an  opulent  and  patriotic  merchant,  whose  wealth 
greatly  depended  on  peace  with  England,  met  John  Rutledge,  Christo 
pher  Gadsden,  Miles  Brewton,  and  the  other  patriots  of  South  Carolina, 
and  there  was  concocted  the  grand  scheme  of  colonial  resistance,  which 
was  afterwards  uttered  in  the  war-shout  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  reechoed 
in  the  thunders  from  our  own  Palmetto  fort  on  the  28th  of  June  fol 
lowing.* 

"  I  glory  that  my  noble  old  ancestor  thus  received  the  young  Boston 
emissary  and  rebel.  I  would  rather  have  sprung,  as  I  have  sprung,  from 
his  loins,  than  that  the  blood  of  all  the  Howards  should  flow  in  my 
veins. 

*  There  is  some  inaccuracy  in  these  details,  which  were  evidently  stated  from 
general  recollection  Mr.  Quincy's  visit  to  South  Carolina  took  place  several 
years  after  the  patriots  of  Massachusetts  "  had  determined  to  resist  the  oppres 
sions  of  the  mother  country."  He  arrived  in  Charleston  on  the  28th  of  Februa 
ry,  1773.  The  voyage  (for  he  went  by  sea)  was  undertaken  purely  from  mo 
tives  of  health,  it  being  decided  that  "  his  only  hope  of  life  depended  upon  an 
immediate  change  to  a  more  southern  climate."  It  is  quite  true,  however,  that 
during  his  visit  to  South  Carolina  he  lost  no  opportunity  of  conferring  with  the 
patriots  of  Charleston  and  the  vicinity,  and  of  giving  and  receiving  encourage 
ment  in  reference  to  the  approaching  crisis.  See  Memoir  of  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr., 
by  his  son,  Josiah  (President)  Quincy,  p.  72. 


84        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

"  I  ask.  then,  our  distinguished  guest,  whether  Massachusetts  and 
South  Carolina  ought  not  ever  to  be  indissolubly  united  ?  Fast  friends, 
then,  in  the  hour  of  utmost  need,  may  they  never  be  irreconcilable  ad 
versaries  in  the  hour  of  the  utmost  exasperation. 

"  May  we  not  hope,  my  friends,  that  our  distinguished  guest  will  rec 
ognize,  in  his  journey  through  the  South,  some  things  to  esteem  and 
regard,  and  fresh  cement,  in  his  own  cordial  sympathies  with  the  warm 
greetings  which  everywhere  await  him,  to  bind  his  cherished  union  of 
the  States  more  closely  to  his  heart  ? 

"  I  know  that  none  of  us  can  go  to  New  England,  that  garden  of  mod 
em  civilization,  without  instruction  and  delight.  If  we  can  learn  much 
from  the  victorious  industry  of  her  sons  in  building  up  the  finest  social 
structure  in  the  world,  we  must  be  captivated  by  the  generous  and  gush 
ing  hospitality  of  her  noble  capital,  where  literature  and  the  arts  form 
the  classic  architrave  which  adorns  the  granite  pillars  of  the  religion  and 
morals  of  that  singularly  interesting  people. 

"  I  have,  Sir,  some  right  to  speak  thus  of  New  England.  It  was  there 
that  I  acquired  the  rudiments  of  almost  all  I  know  in  this  world.  On 
the  banks  of  the  beautiful  Charles  River,  as  it  winds  its  silvery  current 
through  the  county  of  Norfolk,  I  passed  the  hours  of  my  childhood,  un 
der  the  parental  instruction  of  a  kind  and  gifted  old  clergyman,  who  has 
long  since  gone  to  his  bright  and  easily  adjusted  account. 

"  All  these  scenes  of  my  childhood,  even  at  this  moment,  when  ap 
proaching  age  has  not  chilled  its  fires,  come  gushing  to  my  heart  to  re 
ceive  a  renewed  vitality  from  its  tenderness  and  warmth.  There  is  not 
4  a  bosky  bourne  or  alley  green '  for  miles  around  the  humble  parsonage 
of  my  revered  preceptor,  that  I  do  not  remember  with  fond  affection. 
Yes,  I  now  feel  that  these  images  of  the  past  have  come  as  it  were 
again  with  throbbing  tenderness  to  tell  me  that,  next  to  my  own  native 
land,  I  perhaps  love  old  Massachusetts  best ;  for  next  to  her  who  gives 
us  life,  we  ought  to  love  those  who  nurture.  At  least  I  think  so.  Per 
haps  the  coming  of  our  friend  from  this  land  has  created  this  illusion. 
But  if  these  are  illusions,  I  find  these  emotions,  these  natural  instincts 
of  the  human  heart,  are  stronger  than  the  strifes  of  party  spirit,  even  in 
the  hour  of  their  utmost  inflammation.  If  these,  indeed,  are  delusions, 
they  ought  to  be  encouraged,  for  it  is  only  by  getting  clear  in  this  way 
of  the  dust  and  turmoil  of  this  world,  that  we  really  '  seem  to  recover  a 
part  of  the  forgotten  value  of  existence.' 

"  I  have,  however,  Mr.  President,  sufficiently  trespassed  on  the  kind 
and  flattering  attention  of  this  assembly.  It  is  time  that  I  should  con 
clude. 

"  I  know  not  that  I  can  conclude  more  appropriately  than  by  an  allu 
sion  to  a  great  event  in  the  public  history  of  our  guest.  When  the 


Dinner  of  the  New  England  Society    85 

Greeks  decreed  to  Achilles  the  greatest  of  his  ovations,  I  am  sure  he 
would  have  greeted  with  cordial  salutations  a  just  tribute  of  respect  to 
the  memory  of  Hector.  I  know  when  I  bring  the  name  of  Hayne  to  the 
recollection  of  our  friend,  his  heart  stands  ready,  unbidden,  to  unite  in 
our  tribute  of  sorrow,  admiration,  and  esteem,  to  the  shade  of  that  gifted 
spirit. 

"  In  the  celebrated  debate  on  Foot's  Resolutions,  (which  was  but  a 
foreshadowing  of  coming  events  of  far  deeper  interest,)  the  greatest  and 
by  far  the  ablest  discussion  of  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  which  ever  took  place,  occurred,  as  you  well  know,  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  the  session  of  1830. 

"  Our  deeply  lamented  Hayne,  our  comparatively  youthful  champion, 
was  pitted  against  the  gentleman  now  honoring  and  honored  by  this 
festival.  It  is  not  for  me,  with  all  my  strong  sympathies,  personal  and 
political,  to  say  in  this  c  War  of  Giants '  who  had  the  better  part,  either 
in  his  great  argument,  or  in  the  mode  or  manner  of  enforcing  it.  A 
proper  feeling  of  courtesy  to  our  distinguished  guest  induces  me  to  be 
silent  on  their  relative  merits,  and  on  the  relative  value  of  the  great  truths 
involved  in  the  discussion. 

"  But  I  can  well  say  this,  that  I  have  often  heard  my  deceased  friend, 
in  the  hours  of  our  unreserved  confidence,  bear  testimony  to  the  preem 
inent  powers  that  his  opponent  brought  to  bear  in  that  debate,  the  bril 
liancy  of  which  he  was  not  the  last  to  recognize  and  acknowledge.  Nor 
was  he  backward  in  likewise  acknowledging  his  belief  in  the  sincerity 
with  which  opinions  thus  entertained  were  thus  so  ably  enforced. 

"  May  I  not  thus  likewise,  my  friends,  say  to  such  as  knew  our  gifted 
and  deceased  countryman,  that,  if  he  had  been  spared  to  us  and  stood 
where  I  now  stand,  he  would  have  been  the  first  among  us  with  an  out 
stretched  hand  and  willing  heart  to  receive  his  great  antagonist  on  his 
arrival  on  our  shores  ? 

"  The  accents  of  my  voice  almost  reach  the  spot  where  he  rests  in  his 
mourned  and  untimely  grave.  But,  dear  and  never  to  be  forgotten 
friend,  thou  canst  not  hear  these  accents  which  hail  you  with  the  tender 
and  recollected  association  of  a  long-cherished  friendship.  Methinks  I 
almost  hear  the  music  of  thy  once  unrivalled  voice  in  all  the  compass  of 
its  melody  and  power.  Yes,  I  seem  to  gaze  once  more  with  unspeaka 
ble  delight  on  that  countenance  which  beamed  in  life  with  the  blended 
rays  of  genius,  virtue,  and  spotless  honor,  cheering  and  greeting  our 
guest  on  his  kindly  advent  among  us.  But,  alas  !  thou  art  as  silent,  my 
friend,  as  thy  thrice  honored -grave. 

u  Let  us,  however,  my  friends,  as  a  consecrated  office  of  friendship 
and  affection,  approach  his  urn  in  a  spirit  of  just  pride,  as  well  as  with  a 
feeling  of  unfeigned  sorrow,  and  offer  this  libation  to  his  shade. 


86         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

"  The  memory  of  Robert  Y.  Hayne :  A  champion  worthy  to  have 
contended  with  Daniel  Webster,  and  to  have  borne  on  high  the  glorious 
banner  of  our  State." 

This  toast  was  drunk  standing  and  in  silence.  On  the  company  being 
again  seated,  Mr.  Webster  rose  and  said,  — 

The  gentleman  who  has  just  taken  his  seat  has  anticipated 
me  in  the  tribute  he  has  paid  to  the  memory  of  his  friend,  in 
what  I  intended  to  say  in  the  course  of  the  evening.  I  cordially 
concur,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  in  every  sentiment  he  has 
so  eloquently  and  feelingly  uttered.  If  it  was  my  fortune  to  be 
opposed  to  that  gentleman  in  debate,  on  an  important  national 
question,  it  only  gave  me  a  better  opportunity  of  recognizing 
his  very  eminent  ability,  which  was  not  even  surpassed  by  his 
gentlemanly  accomplishments.  I  am  happy  in  this  assembly  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  bearing  testimony  to  his  elevated  patri 
otism,  his  high  honor,  and  incorruptible  integrity.  No  one  out 
of  the  circle  of  his  immediate  relatives  and  friends  more  sincere 
ly  sympathized  in  the  great  public  loss  that  his  death  occasioned. 
With  this  appreciation,  we  can  then  well  afford  to  offer  another 
tribute  to  his  distinguished  worth.  I  will  give  you 

The  memory  of  Robert  Y.  Hayne  :  A  gentleman  of  courteous 
and  polished  manners,  of  irreproachable  life,  a  lawyer  of  distinc 
tion  and  eminence,  a  statesman  of  ability  and  talent,  and  a 
highly  favored  son  of  his  native  State. 


L. 


Dinner  of  the  Charleston  Bar 


THE  Bar  Dinner  in  honor  of  Daniel  Webster,  the  great  master  ot  law 
and  leader  of  the  profession  in  the  Union,  took  place,  at  St.  Andrew's 
Hall,  on  Monday,  the  10th  instant.  Henry  A.  Desaussure,  Esq.,  the 
senior  practising  lawyer,  the  courteous  chief  patriarch  of  the  profession 
in  Charleston,  presided,  assisted  by  Messrs.  James  L.  Petigru,  B.  F. 
Hunt,  H.  Bailey,  and  Richard  Yeadon,  as  Vice-Presidents.  A  number 
of  retired  members  of  the  Bar  participated  in  the  festive  scene,  attracted 
by  the  desire  to  do  honor  to  one  who  conferred  such  honor  on  the  pro 
fession.  After  a  sentiment  from  the  chair  in  honor  of  the  legal  profes 
sion,  James  L.  Petigru,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents,  rose  and  made 
a  few  remarks  on  the  law  as  the  noblest  of  human  sciences,  and  on  the 
tribute  due  to  those  who  profoundly  studied  and  illustrated  its  principles. 
He  concluded  with  the  following  appropriate  sentiment :  — 

u  The  accomplished  orator,  who,  as  well  in  private  causes  as  in  pub 
lic  affairs,  has  not  only  set  an  example  to  his  contemporaries,  but  earned 
a  name  among  the  illustrious  masters  of  a  former  age." 

This  sentiment  was  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm,  and  was 
responded  to  by  Mr.  Webster  as  follows  :  — 

GENTLEMEN,  —  I  feel  highly  honored  by  this  tribute  of  respect 
and  regard  from  my  professional  brethren  of  the  Charlestoji  Bar. 
I  take  pleasure  in  expressing  my  sincere  and  grateful  satisfaction 
in  thus  meeting  them  at  the  friendly  and  social  board.  Such 
are  the  emotions  of  my  bosom,  I  can  scarcely  trust  myself  with 
a  response,  or  be  expected  to  make  a  set  speech  in  reply.  Let 
me  say,  Gentlemen,  that  I  love  our  common  profession,  and  love 

*  Abridged  from  the  Charleston  Courier  of  the  12th  of  May,  1847. 


88         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

all  who  honor  it.  I  regard  it  as  the  great  ornament,  and  one  of 
the  chief  defences  and  securities,  of  free  institutions.  It  is  indis 
pensable  to  and  conservative  of  public  liberty.  I  honor  it  from 
the  bottom  of  my  heart.  If  I  am  any  thing,  it  is  the  law  —  that 
noble  profession,  that  sublime  science  which  we  all  pursue  — 
that  has  made  me  what  I  am.  It  has  been  my  ambition,  coeval 
with  my  early  manhood,  nay,  with  my  youth,  to  be  thought 
worthy  to  be  ranged  under  the  banner  of  that  profession.  The 
law  has  been  my  chief  stimulus,  my  controlling  and  abiding 
hope,  nay,  I  might  almost  say,  my  presiding  genius  and  guar 
dian  angel. 

We  have  met  this  evening,  Sir,  my  brothers  and  myself, 
brethren  in  the  law,  under  the  influence  of  common  feelings. 
We  are  students  of  the  same  profession,  followers  and  disciples 
of  the  same  great  leaders  and  teachers  whom  history  has  chroni 
cled  for  our  contemplation  and  example ;  such  as  the  sages  of  the 
Roman  jurisprudence;  such  as  D'Aguesseau  and  Domat,  Coke 
and  Holt  and  Mansfield,  and  other  great  names  in  Europe ;  such 
as  the  masters  of  the  profession  in  our  own  country,  —  great 
lights  and  luminaries  in  every  branch  of  legal  science  and  in 
the  principles  of  legislation.  I  feel  it  no  common  good  fortune 
to  belong  to  a  profession  so  useful,  so  honorable,  and  so  distin 
guished.  Although  it  may  not  always,  although  it  does  not 
often,  in  this  country,  lead  to  wealth,  it  does  what  is  infinitely 
better  and  more  important,  —  it  enables  us  to  do  good  in  our 
day  and  generation.  I  repeat,  it  is  not  calculated  to  yield  its 
members  the  greatest  fortunes.  It  seldom,  in  this  respect,  fulfils 
the  sanguine  expectations  of  beginners  in  the  toilsome  path. 
After  twenty-five  years'  observation,  I  can  give  it  as  the  con 
densed  history  of  most,  if  not  all,  good  lawyers,  that  they  lived 
well  and  died  poor.  In  other  countries,  and  in  England  espe 
cially,  it  is  different.  Great  fortunes  are  there  accumulated  in 
every  branch  of  the  legal  profession.  Many  noble  and  wealthy 
families  in  England  have  been  built  up  on  the  acquisitions  of 
the  law.  Such  is  not  the  course  of  things  with  us,  nor,  with  our 
habits  and  inclinations,  is  it  to  be  expected. 

The  only  regret  to  be  felt  at  the  slenderness  of  professional 
emolument  arises  out  of  the  difficulty  of  impressing  on  the  gen 
eral  mind  sufficiently  strong  inducements,  to  make  adequate  and 
honorable  provision  for  those  who  are  selected  from  the  legal 


Dinner  of  the  Charleston  Bar        89 

profession  to  go  on  the  bench.  In  my  opinion,  there  is  no  char 
acter  on  earth  more  elevated  and  pure  than  that  of  a  learned 
and  upright  judge.  There  is  no  cause  to  which  I  would  more 
cheerfully  and  more  largely  contribute  the  earnings  of  my  life, 
than  the  adequate  support  of  the  learned  and  upright  judge. 
But  although  such  a  character  exerts  an  important  agency  in 
the  public  service  and  influence  for  the  public  good,  —  an  influ 
ence,  like  the  dews  of  heaven,  falling  without  observance, — 
it  is  not  always  sure,  among  a  people  of  great  activity,  like  ours, 
to  attract  the  proper  regard  or  proper  reward.  The  inadequacy 
of  *egal  emolument  is  not  the  only  reason  which  prevents  the 
profession  in  this  country  from  accumulating  wealth.  Their 
standing  in  society  compels  them  to  live  somewhat  expensively, 
and,  I  may  add,  their  inclinations  too.  Lawyers  always  think 
themselves  bound  to  be  hospitable.  Friends  come  to  town,  and 
they  must  be  entertained.  These  positions  do  not  rest  on  dis 
putable  authority,  but  are  favored  by  every  authority  from  Lord 
Coke  down. 

But  though  not  the  road  to  wealth,  our  calling  is  not  the  less 
honorable.  Out  of  the  profession  of  the  law,  magistrates  are 
chosen  to  dispense  private  and  public  justice.  This  is  a  great 
proof  of  respectability  of  standing  in  a  government  like  ours. 
Merit,  and  not  political  favor,  determines  with  us  who  shall  oc 
cupy  the  seat  of  justice.  He  would  profane  our  institutions 
who  should  be  bold  and  daring  enough  to  put  one  on  the  bench 
unqualified  in  mind  and  morals  for  the  high  position. 

J  have  observed  that  the  administration  of  justice\is  the  great 
end  of  human  society.  All  the  complex  machinery  of  govern 
ment  has  for  its  object  that  a  magistrate  should  sit,  in  purity 
and  intelligence,  to  administer  justice  between  individuals  and 
the  country.  The  judiciary,  selected  from  our  profession,  makes 
every  one  feel  safe  in  life,  liberty,  and  property.  Where  is 
there  a  higher  function  or  dignity  than  that  of  a  chancellor  to 
dispense  equity  between  litigants  and  to  the  widow  and  orphan  ? 
Learned  and  virtuous  judges  are  the  great  masters,  and  lawyers 
the  apprentices  of  justice.  No  morality,  save  that  of  the  Sav 
iour  of  mankind,  is  more  ennobling  than  that  of  a  court  of 
equity,  as  illustrated  in  the  judgments  of  men  like  D'Agues- 
seau  and  Hardwicke  and  Eldon,  of  Marshall  and  Desaussure 
and  Kent  and  Story.  No  moral  lesson,  except  those  of  holy 
writ,  surpasses  the  teachings  of  these  great  lights  of  the  law  on 


90        Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

the  subject  of  fiduciary  relations,  and  in  matters  of  trust  and 
confidence.  An  eminent  lawyer  cannot  be  a  dishonest  man. 
Tell  me  a  man  is  dishonest,  and  I  will  answer  he  is  no  lawyer. 
He  cannot  be,  because  he  is  careless  and  reckless  of  justice ;  the 
law  is  not  in  his  heart,  —  is  not  the  standard  and  rule  of  his  con 
duct. 

A^^reat  equity  lawyer  has  truly  said,  that,  ever  since  the  Rev- 
if  olution  of  1688,  law  has  been  the  basis  of  public  liberty.  1 
* ,  hold  it  to  be  undoubted  that  the  state  of  society  depends  more 
on  elementary  law,  and  the  principles  and  rules  that  control  the 
transmission,  distribution,  and  free  alienation  of  property,  than 
on  positive  institutions.  Written  constitutions  sanctify  and 
confirm  great  principles,  but  the  latter  are  prior  in  existence  to 
the  former.  The  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  the  Bill  of  Rights,  the 
trial  by  jury,  are  surer  bulwarks  of  right  and  liberty  than  written 
constitutions.  The  establishment  of  our  free  institutions  is 
the  gradual  work  of  time  and  experience,  not  the  immediate  re 
sult  of  any  written  instrument.  English  history  and  our  colo 
nial  history  are  full  of  those  experiments  in  representative  gov 
ernment  which  heralded  and  led  to  our  more  perfect  system. 
When  our  Revolution  made  us  independent,  we  had  not  to 
frame  government  for  ourselves,  to  hew  it  out  of  the  original 
block  of  marble ;  our  history  and  experience  presented  it  ready 
made  and  well  proportioned  to  our  hands.  Our  neighbor,  the 
unfortunate,  miserably  governed  Mexico,  when  she  emerged 
from  her  revolution,  had  in  her  history  nothing  of  representative 
government,  habeas  corpus,  or  trial  by  jury ;  no  progressive 
experiments  tending  to  a  glorious  consummation ;  nothing  but 
a  government  calling  itself  free,  with  the  least  possible  free 
dom  in  the  world.  She  has  collected,  since  her  independence, 
$  300,000,000  of  revenue,  and  has  unfortunately  expended  it  all 
in  putting  up  one  revolution  and  putting  down  another,  and  in 
maintaining  an  army  of  forty  thousand  men  in  time  of  peace  to 
keep  the  peace. 

Liberty  and  law  are  in  this  respect  intimately  connected. 
Civil  liberty  consists  in  the  establishment  of  those  great  and 
inherent  principles  of  government  and  human  regulation,  which 
have  prevailed  in  England  from  the  time  of  Somers  and  Holt. 
I  pray  Heaven  that  we  may  never  relinquish  the  independence 
of  the  judiciary.  A  timeserving  judge  is  a  spectacle  to  in 
spire  abhorrence.  The  independent  judge  draws  around  him 


Dinner  of  the  Charleston  Bar        91 

the  respect  and  confidence  of  society.  Law,  equity,  and  jus 
tice  require  that  this  should  be  done  and  that  should  not  be 
done,  and  judicial  decisions  should  command  entire  acquies 
cence  from  full  confidence  in  the  purity,  integrity,  and  learning 
of  the  judge.  The  profession  of  the  law  is  the  support  of  pub 
lic  liberty.  True,  there  was  once  an  Empson  and  a  Dudley, 
1  blots  and  stains  on  the  profession.  There  was  once  a  Jeffreys,  [ 
but  never  twice.  Such  a  monster  of  judicial  savageness  and 
ferocity  has  never  again  appeared  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  In 
England  ever  since  her  Revolution,  eminent  members  of  the  bar 
have  been  eminent  lovers  and  eminent  supporters  of  public  lib 
erty;  Somers,  Holt,  and  Camden,  and  numerous  others,  emi 
nent  lawyers,  are  bright  names  on  the  honorable  roll. 

Liberty  is  the  creature  of  law,  essentially  different  from  that 
authorized  licentiousness  that  trespasses  on  right  It  is  a  legal 
and  a  refined  idea,  the  offspring  of  high  civilization,  which  the 
savage  never  understood  and  never  can  understand.  Liberty 
exists  in  proportion  to  wholesome  restraint ;  the  more  restraint 
on  others  to  keep  off  from  us,  the  more  liberty  we  have.  It  is  an 
error  to  suppose  that  liberty  consists  in  a  paucity  of  laws.  If 
one  wants  few  laws,  let  him  go  to  Turkey.  The  Turk  enjoys 
that  blessing.  The  working  of  our  complex  system,  full  of 
checks  and  restraints  on  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  power,, 
is  favorable  to  liberty  and  justice.  Those  checks  and  restraints 
are  so  many  safeguards  set  around  individual  rights  and  inter 
ests.  That  man  is  free  who  is  protected  from  injury. 

Again,  the  law  is  an  instrument  and  means  of  instruction  to 
the  mass  of  the  people.  Merchants,  planters,  farmers,  and  every 
other  class  of  the  community,  acting  as  litigants,  jurors,  wit 
nesses,  or  spectators,  find  it  a  useful  school.  The  trial  by  jury 
is  the  popular  teacher  of  our  system ;  the  aegis  of  protection  to 
individual  rights,  the  shield  and  defence  against  the  encroach 
ments  of  power.  "  Why  call  a  jury  ? "  say  some.  "  Let  a 
judge,  a  learned,  virtuous,  impartial  judge,  decide."  But  no,  let 
the  judge  give  the  charge  to  the  jury  on  the  law,  but  let  the 
people  in  the  jury-box  adjudge  the  facts  of  the  case.  The  peo 
ple,  it  is  true,  as  a  mass,  are  not  capable  of  understanding 
recondite  subjects  and  abstruse  reasoning.  But,  before  juries, 
and  especially  unlearned  ones,  lawyers  should  have  the  good 
sense  not  to  use  terms  which  their  hearers  cannot  understand 
To  be  followed  in  a  logical  train  of  argument,  they  should  speak 


92         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

plainly  and  intelligibly,  so  that,  if  you  "  lose  a  single  word,  a 
single  link,  you  break  the  connection,"  according  to  a  remark  of 
Bishop  Heber.  When  a  jury  is  impanelled,  the  case  should  be 
plainly  stated,  without  Latin,  in  our  own  vernacular  English, 
and  in  this  way  the  minds  of  commonly  sensible  men  may  be 
conducted  to  high  results  of  argument. 

There  can  oe  no  better  tribunal  than  the  people  brought  to 
gether  in  the  jury-box,  under  the  solemn  sanction  of  an  oath, 
and  acting  under  the  instructions  of  enlightened  judges.  In 
what  a  vast  majority  of  cases  do  they  decide  right!  I  am  at 
tached  to  this  mode  of  trial,  and  will  never  consent  to  give  it 
up.  Ad  qucestionem  facti  respondeant  juratores.  In  cases  of 
doubt,  the  special  verdict,  or  case  stated,  is  an  admirable  ex 
pedient.  The  judge's  mind  clearly  made  up  on  a  case  clearly 
stated,  becomes  authority  for  all  other  like  cases.  There  is  no 
system  of  jurisprudence  but  the  common  law  that  enjoys  this 
advantage.  The  learned  Court  of  Session  in  Scotland  adjudges 
disputed  questions  of  law  and  fact.  It  is  composed  of  six 
teen  judges,  and  they  often  differ  on  both  law  and  fact,  and  it 
has  happened  to  Sir  Walter  Scott,  as  the  clerk  of  court,  finally 
to  put  the  question,  "  Are  you  on  the  whole  in  favor  of  the  pur 
suer  or  the  defender?"  The  same  objection  applies  to  the  Ro 
man  or  civil  law,  —  that  system  of  law  in  every  branch  of  which 
one  of  your  distinguished  citizens  (the  lamented  Hugh  S.  Le- 
gare),  whose  premature  demise  I  most  deeply  and  sincerely 
mourn,  has  been  so  eminent.  To  us  it  is  only  a  great  fountain 
of  excellent  general  principles.  There  the  case  is  not  to  be 
found ;  and  general  rules  do  not  afford  the  precise  analogy  to 
the  case  in  point. 

Brethren,  we  are  apprentices  of  the  law,  the  honorable  pro 
fession  of  the  law ;  let  us  make  our  master  a  grateful  return. 
For  my  own  part,  although  largely  connected  with  other  pur 
suits,  yet  will  I  not  forget  the  debt  I  owe  to  the  profession  of 
the  law.  It  found  me  a  youth  among  the  granite  hills  of  my 
native  New  England,  fit  for  nothing  but  to  try  my  fortune  on 
any  cast.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  directed  to  the  law, 
and  the  result  is,  I  have  earned  an  honorable  competence,  reared 
a  family,  and  shall  at  least  leave  my  children  the  possession  of 
a  good  education,  and  the  inheritance  of  a  good  name. 

In  conclusion,  Gentlemen,  I  offer  you  the  following  toast :  — 

The  Law  :  It  has  honored  us,  may  we  honor  it. 


Reception  at  Columbia' 


HON.  DANIEL  WEBSTER'S  VISIT  TO  COLUMBIA.  —  This  distinguished 
gentleman  (accompanied  by  his  family)  visited  our  town  last  week,  and 
remained  from  Wednesday  evening  to  yesterday  morning.  He  was  re 
ceived  with  such  honors  and  hospitalities,  public  and  private,  as  it  is 
suitable  to  tender  to  one  who  fills  so  eminent  a  position  in  our  Union. 
On  arriving,  he  repaired  to  the  mansion  of  his  friend,  the  Hon.  W.  C. 
Preston,  President  of  the  South  Carolina  College  (whose  more  especial 
guest  he  was),  and  in  the  course  of  the  evening  was  greeted  by  several 
hundred  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  had  been  invited  to  meet  him.  The 
College  buildings  and  grounds  were  brilliantly  illuminated  by  the  stu 
dents,  whose  welcome  Mr.  Webster  acknowledged  in  a  brief  address. 
On  Thursday,  with  the  ladies  of  his  party,  he  was  elegantly  entertained 
at  Millwood,  the  seat  of  Colonel  Hampton,  whose  stately  mansion  and 
wide  domain  are  among  the  most  magnificent  to  be  seen  in  the  South.  In 
the  evening  he  attended  a  soirSe  at  the  residence  of  Dr.  Lieber,  the  dis 
tinguished  Professor  of  History  in  our  College.  Friday  morning  was 
employed  in  riding  over  and  examining  the  extensive  plantations  of 
B.  F.  Taylor,  Esq.  and  Colonel  Hampton,  until  two  o'clock,  when  Mr. 
Webster  repaired  to  Clark's  Hotel,  to  receive  such  of  our  citizens  as 
might  be  disposed  to  make  acquaintance  with  him.  Here  he  was  ad 
dressed,  in  behalf  of  the  town  authorities,  by  W.  F.  De  Saussure,  Esq., 
to  whom  he  replied  in  suitable  terms. 

The  students  of  the  College  having  held  a  meeting,  and  appointed  a 
committee  to  tender  to  Mr.  Webster  their  respects  and  congratulations, 
at  four  o'clock  he  repaired  to  the  chapel,  where  Mr.  Farrow,  of  the 
Senior  Class,  made  to  him  the  following  exceedingly  well  composed 
address :  — 

"HONORABLE  SIR,  —  Allow  me,  in  the  name  of  my  fellow-students 
of  the  South  Carolina  College,  to  present  you  the  assurance  of  their  sin 
cere  pleasure  at  being  honored  with  your  presence  on  this  occasion. 

•  Abridged  from  the  Columbia  South  Carolinian  of  the  17th  of  Mav.  1847. 


94         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Conscious  we  are  that  our  humble  tribute  can  add  but  little  either  to 
your  pleasure  or  your  fame.  But  taught  from  infancy  to  respect  worth, 
we  could  not  be  silent  when  we  see  in  our  midst  one  in  whom  are 
blended  the  finished  scholar,  the  able  statesman,  the  pure  patriot ;  one 
1  whose  fame  can  no  more  be  hemmed  in  by  State  lines,'  than  the  conse 
crated  histories  of  Boston,  Bunker  Hill,  and  Lexington.  However  warm 
may  be  our  gratitude  to  those  who  sustain  our  country's  honor  on  the 
battle-field,  we  are  not  forgetful  of  those  whose  names  are  interwoven 
in  the  history  of  the  councils  of  state  and  the  debates  of  senates.  And 
whilst  we  weave  a  willing  wreath  around  the  victor's  brow,  we  equally 
offer  the  homage  of  our  hearts  and  our  understandings  to  men  illustri 
ous  as  you  are,  Sir,  in  civil  life.  Be  assured,  Sir,  on  our  part,  of  a 
most  hearty  welcome  amongst  us." 

To  which  Mr.  Webster  replied  :  — 

YOUNG  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SOUTH  CAROLINA  COLLEGE,— 
I  thank  you  for  the  manner  in  which  you  have  been  pleased  to 
receive  me,  and  for  the  respect  which  you  have  manifested.  You 
are  of  the  generation  which  is  to  come  after  us,  and  your  judg 
ments  are  to  form  part  of  the  opinion  of  posterity,  in  respect  to 
those  who  are  now  active  in  the  scenes  of  life.  It  will  be  happy 
for  me,  if  the  mature  sentiments  of  your  manhood  shall  corre 
spond  with  those  thus  'expressed  in  your  youth. 

My  young  friends,  I  may  well  congratulate  you  on  your  pres 
ent  condition,  and  your  prospects.  You  are  members  of  a 
flourishing  institution.  You  enjoy  the  teachings  of  a  learned 
faculty,  with  a  name  at  its  head  beloved  in  private  life,  highly 
distinguished  in  public  life,  and  which  confers  grace  as  well  as 
usefulness  on  these  academic  groves.  Private  and  family  affec 
tions  cluster  round  you  all ;  a  thousand  hopes  are  cherished  for 
you ;  all  good  auspices  hover  over  you.  Every  one  of  you  may 
take  to  himself,  in  this  respect,  the  language  of  the  poet, 

"  Non  sine  Dis  animosus  infans." 

Let  me,  then,  say  to  each  of  you,  "  Carpe  diem."  Art  is  long, 
and  science  is  profound,  and  literature,  in  our  day,  is  various 
and  extensive.  But  you  have  youth,  and  health,  and  the  means 
of  culture  and  improvement,  and  can  accomplish  great  objects, 
With  you  it  is  the  bright  and  breezy  morn  of  life.  A  long  day, 
I  trust,  is  before  you.  Let  me  advise  you  to  be  early  in  prose 
cuting  the  great  work,  which  in  that  day  is  to  be  done.  Like 


Reception  at  Columbia  95 

the  morning  of  the  natural  day,  let  the  morning  of  life  begin 
with  devotion  to  the  Great  Giver  of  all  good ;  and  let  every  suc 
ceeding  hour  of  that  life  be  filled  with  acts  of  duty,  and  friend 
ship,  and  private  and  public  beneficence.  The  evening  of  such 
life  will  be  full  of  hopes  for  a  better ;  and  all  will  be  cheered 
and  consoled  by 

"  that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 
As  honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends." 

Young  Gentlemen,  all  my  good  wishes  attend  you !  May 
you  here  sow,  with  liberal  broadcast,  the  seeds  of  a  future  har 
vest  of  honor  to  yourselves,  gratification  to  your  friends,  and 
usefulness  to  your  country ! 


Reception  at  Savannah* 


AGREEABLY  to  previous  arrangements,  at  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morn 
ing  of  Wednesday,  the  26th  ultimo,  the  committee  of  thirteen  waited 
upon  Mr.  Webster  at  his  lodgings,  and  escorted  him  to  the  platform 
erected  against  the  Greene  and  Pulaski  monument,  in  Monument  Square. 
A  very  large  audience  of  both  sexes  was  in  attendance.  We  have  sel 
dom  seen  a  brighter  or  more  interesting  spectacle  in  this  city. 

Mr.  Webster  having  taken  his  place  upon  the  stage,  and  quiet  pre 
vailing  among  the  audience,  he  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Justice  Wayne 
as  follows :  — 

"  SIR,  —  The  people  of  Savannah,  mindful  of  the  services  which  you 
have  rendered  to  our  common  country,  welcome  you  to  our  city.  We 
mean  it  to  be  a  hearty  welcome. 

"  Unaided  by  those  accidents  of  fortune  which  give  to  some  men  tem 
porary  notoriety,  you  have  achieved  for  yourself,  and  mostly  in  the  ser 
vice  of  your  country,  lasting  reputation  as  a  jurist,  orator,  and  states 
man.  But,  more  than  this,  and  that  which  we  think  you  value  most, 
you  have  also,  in  working  your  way  to  such  distinction,  won  as  much 
of  the  confidence  and  friendly  regards  of  your  contemporaries  as  in 
our  day  any  public  man  can  hope  to  enjoy.  Proofs  of  it  have  been 
given  to  you  everywhere.  They  were  awaiting  your  arrival,  if  sickness 
had  not  shortened  your  journey,  wherever  you  might  have  gone.  Those 
kindly  influences  are  worth  a  thousand  other  triumphs.  It  is  in  such  a 
spirit  we  now  address  you,  and,  if  the  hundreds  in  our  view  could  hear 
my  voice,  theirs  would  respond  with  the  same  feeling. 

"  All  that  you  have  done,  Sir,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been 
done,  will  be  told  in  our  history.  More  than  thirty  years  of  public  ser 
vice  have  identified  you  with  the  leading  political  incidents  of  that  time. 
Memorable  things  have  happened.  The  prominent  actors  in  them  will 
be  judged,  not  alone  by  the  parts  they  may  have  taken,  but  by  the  con- 

*  From  the  Savannah  Republican  of  the  3d  of  June,  1847. 


Reception  at  Savannah  97 

sequences  and  results  of  measures.  Time  removes  contemporary  mis 
construction.  Posterity  will  give  its  judgment  free  from  the  misguiding 
interests  and  prejudices  of  a  past  generation.  History  is  God's  provi 
dence  in  human  affairs,  and  it  is  a  part  of  it  to  triumph  over  error,  and 
to  assign  to  the  actors  in  great  events  their  proper  places. 

"  Yours,  Sir,  we  believe,  will  be  with  those  master-spirits  who  framed 
the  Constitution  of  our  Union.  It  has  already  made  us  a  great  nation 
and  a  numerous  people.  With  it,  we  shall  become  all  that  a  nation  can 
be  ;  without  it,  nothing  that  a  people  should  be.  The  effort  of  your  life 
has  been  to  maintain  that  Constitution  in  all  that  you  believe  to  be  its 
legitimate  powers.  Others,  and  some  of  them  our  ablest  men,  differ 
from  you.  But  whenever  those  differences  have  been  discussed,  you 
have  never  failed  to  gain  the  respect  of  those  who  did  not  agree  with 
you  ;  because  your  own  opinions  have  always  been  openly  avowed,  and 
maintained  with  signal  ability  and  conceded  patriotic  intention.  All, 
too,  admit  that  no  man  has  been  truer  than  yourself  to  the  compromises 
of  the  Constitution.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the  Senate- 
chamber,  in  the  courts,  in  your  official  despatches,  and  upon  popular 
occasions,  at  home  and  elsewhere,  when  you  have  spoken,  and  when  it 
was  proper  to  say  so,  you  have  said  that  these  compromises  were  to  be 
kept  as  they  were  meant  by  the  States  which  ratified  it.  We  do  not 
doubt  that  you  will  continue  to  think  and  to  act  so,  with  all  that  fervor 
of  feeling  with  which  you  once  exclaimed,  in  reference  to  the  union  of 
the  States, 4  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  for  ever,  one  and  inseparable.' 

"  From  one  of  your  constitutional  suggestions  every  man  in  the  land 
has  been  more  or  less  benefited.  We  allude  to  it  with  the  greater  pleas 
ure  because  it  was  in  a  controversy  begun  by  a  Georgian  in  behalf  of  the 
constitutional  rights  of  the  citizen.  When  the  late  Mr.  Thomas  Gibbons 
determined  to  hazard  a  large  part  of  his  fortune  in  testing  the  constitution 
ality  of  the  laws  of  New  York,  limiting  the  navigation  of  the  waters  hi 
that  State  to  steamers  belonging  to  a  company,  his  own  interest  was  not 
so  much  concerned  as  the  right  of  every  citizen  to  use  a  coasting  license 
upon  the  waters  of  the  United  States,  in  whatever  way  their  vessels  were 
propelled.  It  was  a  sound  view  of  the  law,  but  not  broad  enough  for 
the  occasion.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  case  would  have  been  decided 
upon  it,  even  if  you  had  not  insisted  that  it  should  be  put  upon  the 
broader  constitutional  ground  of  commerce  and  navigation.  The  court 
felt  the  application  and  force  of  your  reasoning,  and  it  made  a  decision 
releasing  every  creek  and  river,  lake,  bay,  and  harbor,  in  our  country, 
from  the  interference  of  monopolies,  which  had  already  provoked  un 
friendly  legislation  between  some  of  the  States,  and  which  would  have 
been  as  little  favorable  to  the  interest  of  Fulton  as  they  were  unworthy 
of  his  genius. 
VOL.  iv.  —  7 


98         Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

*4  Nor  must  we  permit  this  occasion  to  pass  without  noticing  your  ad 
ministration  of  the  State  Department.  We  of  the  South  as  a  very 
large  portion  of  your  fellow-citizens  did  everywhere,  recognize  in  what 
was  then  done  practical  ability  remarkably  suited  to  the  time  of  action, 
with  a  comprehensive  support  of  every  American  interest  and  right, 
domestic  and  foreign. 

"  One  word  more,  Sir.  The  place  from  which  we  give  you  our  wel 
come  has  been  consecrated  by  us  to  the  memory  of  Greene  and  Pulaski. 
It  is  a  fit  place  for  a  people's  welcome  to  be  given  to  one  who  has 
deserved  well  of  the  republic.  It  reminds  us  of  those  Revolutionary 
events  which  excite  in  all  Americans  a  common  sympathy.  It  should 
be  cultivated  by  all  of  us.  It  has  hitherto  resisted  the  contentions  of 
interest  and  the  passion  of  party.  And  if,  at  any  time  hereafter,  some 
dark  cloud  shall  threaten  our  harmony,  it  will  be  made  harmless  by 
holding  up  to  the  people  the  remembrance  of  their  fathers,  united  in  the 
cause  of  American  freedom.  Upon  our  part,  we  shall  never  forget  that 
Georgia  gave  an  early  response  to  the  earlier  remonstrance  of  Massa 
chusetts  against  those  acts  of  Parliament  of  which  she  was  the  imme 
diate  victim,  but  which  were  levelled  against  the  liberties  of  all  the  Col 
onies.  When  the  language  of  Suffolk,  bolder  than  any  which  had  been 
used  before,*  proclaimed,  for  the  first  time,  that  the  Colonies  were  only 
a  part  of  the  realm  of  England  by  compact,  which  would  be  dissolved, 
if  the  acts  of  which  Massachusetts  complained  were  not  repealed,  it 
was  repeated  here  with  pledges  to  our  sister  Colonies  to  join  them  in  any 
and  every  measure  of  resistance.  The  patriots  of  Georgia  were  not 
slow  in  showing  that  they  were  in  earnest.  Their  sons,  and  grandsons, 
and  great-grandsons,  bearing  the  honors  of  their  paternity  gracefully 
and  unobtrusively,  but  with  all  the  sympathies  of  their  fathers,  are  here 
to-day  to  unite  with  the  rest  of  us  to  give  you  our  welcome.  Accept  it, 
Sir,  and  should  you,  upon  your  return  home,  be  called  upon  to  tell  any 
thing  of  your  visit  to  the  South,  tell  those  to  whom  you  may  speak  that 
you  have  been  among  a  people  who,  in  the  real  respect  which  they  feel 
and  have  shown  to  yourself,  intended  also  to  manifest  their  attachment 
to  their  Northern  and  Eastern  brethren,  and  to  show  that  their  prevailing 
political  feeling  is  devotion  to  our  Union. 

"  May  God  animate  all  the  people  of  all  States  with  the  same  senti 
ment,  and  impress  upon  their  hearts  that  it  is  a  duty  which  we  owe  to 
him,  to  our  fathers,  and  our  posterity,  to  maintain,  defend,  and  preserve 
the  Union,  and  to  transmit  it  entire  to  future  generations !  " 

*  See  resolutions  of  "  the  County  of  Suffolk  in  the  Province  of  Massachu 
setts  Bay,"  of  the  6th  of  September,  1774,  laid  before  the  Continental  Congress 
on  the  17th  of  that  month. 


Reception  at  Savannah  99 

To  this  speech  Mr.  Webster  made  the  following  reply. 

SIR, —  I  beg  you  to  believe  me  duly  sensible  of  the  respect 
paid  me  by  the  citizens  of  Savannah.  They  have  appointed  a 
committee  to  welcome  me,  composed  of  distinguished  citizens, 
and  placed  at  its  head  a  gentleman  well  known  to  myself  per 
sonally  and  to  the  public,  as  filling  with  equal  honor  to  himself 
and  the  country  the  high  station  of  an  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

The  topics  alluded  to  in  the  address  just  delivered  are  of  great 
and  permanent  importance.  At  their  head  stands  that  of  the 
Union  of  the  States,  and  the  Constitution.  To  such  parts  of 
the  address  as  are  complimentary  to  myself,  I  can  of  course, 
beyond  the  expression  of  my  thanks,  make  no  reply.  What 
most  becomes  me,  certainly,  in  this  respect,  is  a  grateful  and 
respectful  silence. 

Allow  me  to  say,  that  no  more  than  justice  is  done  me,  in 
ascribing  to  me  a  steady  adhesion  to  the  Union  of  the  States, 
upon  the  principles  and  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  Con 
stitution. 

I  have  made  this  present  tour,  which  has  proved  so  delightful 
to  me  while  enjoying  it,  and  which  will  leave  so  many  pleasant 
reminiscences  to  dwell  upon  after  my  return,  for  the  purpose  of 
visiting  those  younger  sisters  of  the  family  of  the  Old  Thirteen 
whom  I  had  not  before  known.  I  heartily  rejoice  that  I  have 
done  so,  for  the  reception  which  has  welcomed  me  has  proved 
that  we  of  the  North  and  the  South  are  still  brethren  in  feeling, 
and  members  of  the  same  great  political  family,  bound  together 
by  the  articles  of  agreement  in  our  glorious  Constitution.  He 
must  be  a  presumptuous  man  indeed,  who  would  venture  to 
think  that  he  could  suggest  any  new  features  of  improvement, 
or  in  any  way  improve  our  present  form  of  united  government, 
By  its  provisions  and  compromises  I  stand,  as  I  have  ever  stood, 
and  woe  to  the  meddling  politicians  who  would  assail  them  in 
the  hope  of  getting  surer  and  safer  guaranties  for  State  rights 
and  State  institutions.  In  itself  it  is  already  complete  and  per 
fect  ;  any  change  could  only  result  in  marring  the  harmony  of 
its  separate  parts.  The  Constitution  was  the  result  of  conces 
sions  and  compromises.  It  gave  to  the  general  government  cer 
tain  specific  rights  and  duties,  and  it  left  to  the  States  the  free 


ioo       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

exercise  of  their  own  appropriate  rights,  and  the  unrestricted  en 
joyment  of  their  own  laws  and  the  control  of  their  own  social 
institutions.  It  has  stood  the  test  of  experience,  and  proved 
itself  capable,  under  a  wise  administration,  of  carrying  forward 
the  prosperity  of  the  country.  Our  duty  is  to  be  content  with 
the  Constitution  as  it  is,  to  resist  all  changes  from  whatever 
quarter,  to  preserve  its  original  spirit  and  original  purpose,  and 
to  commend  it,  as  it  is,  to  the  care  of  those  who  are  to  come 
after  us. 

In  reply  to  Judge  Wayne's  handsome  allusion  to  the  argu 
ment  made  by  me  before  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the  suit  insti 
tuted  by  Thomas  Gibbons,  to  try  the  exclusive  right  of  the  heirs 
of  Fulton  to  the  exclusive  navigation  by  steam  of  all  the 
waters  within  the  State  of  New  York,  I  would  observe,  that  it 
has  been  my  fortune  in  the  courts  of  law,  as  well  as  in  the  halls 
of  Congress,  to  take  frequent  parts  in  the  discussion  of  consti 
tutional  questions  of  this  character.  The  case  referred  to  by 
Judge  Wayne  is  one  of  them.  It  is  true,  that,  in  the  case  of 
Gibbons  v.  Ogden,  I  declined  to  argue  the  cause  on  any  other 
ground  than  that  of  the  great  commercial  question  presented  by 
it,  —  the  then  novel  question  of  the  constitutional  authority  of 
Congress  exclusively  to  regulate  commerce  in  all  its  forms,  on 
all  the  navigable  waters  of  the  United  States,  their  bays,  rivers, 
and  harbors,  without  any  monopoly,  restraint,  or  interference 
created  by  State  legislation. 

That  question  I  regarded  as  all-important.  Other  grounds 
might  have  been  sufficient  for  the  disposal  of  this  particular 
cause,  but  they  were  of  no  public  or  permanent  importance.  If 
that  great  point  had  then  been  waived  or  evaded,  it  is  not  easy 
now  to  see  what  inferences  unfavorable  to  the  just  authority  of 
Con  stress  might  have  been  drawn. 

But  my  agency  in  this  and  similar  questions  before  the  Su 
preme  Court  has  been  but  subordinate ;  the  decision  has  rested 
with  the  court  itself.  No  higher  judicial  tribunal  exists  than 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  distinguished  alike  for 
the  wisdom  of  its  decisions  and  the  eminent  qualities  of  the 
judges  who  compose  it,  both  in  their  private  and  public  capaci 
ties.  It  is  the  expounder  of  fundamental  principles  of  govern 
ment  ;  it  is  the  appointed  umpire  on  questions  of  the  profound- 
est  interest  and  most  enduring  consequences  between  conflicting 


Reception  at  Savannah  101 

sovereignties.  The  American  people,  if  they  are  wise,  will 
ever  cherish  it  as  their  most  valuable  possession,  since  its  du 
ration  will  be  coexistent  with  that  of  the  Constitution,  of 
which  it  is  the  sole  interpreter.  The  decisions  of  this  tribunal 
have  in  general  commanded  public  respect  and  inspired  public 
confidence.  Great  talents  and  great  learning  have  adorned  its 
bench.  Some  of  its  judgments  on  questions  of  great  magni 
tude  have  manifested  unsurpassed  ability.  Let  us  hope  that  its 
future  may  resemble  its  past,  and  that  the  same  learning  and 
dignity,  the  same  integrity  and  firmness,  which  have  character 
ized  its  decisions  in  times  past,  may  also  distinguish  them  in 
times  to  come. 

I  beg,  Sir,  leave  also  to  acknowledge  the  kindness  with  which 
you  have  noticed  the  manner  in  which  I  have  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  Department  of  State.  I  held  that  office  but  for  a 
short  period ;  during  that  period,  however,  the  question  of  the 
Northeastern  Boundary  was  definitively  settled,  and  an  oppor 
tunity  was  afforded  for  considering  and  discussing  other  objects 
of  great  interest,  which  had  remained  unsettled,  and  which  had 
become  attended  with  no  small  difficulty.  That  opportunity 
was  embraced.  I  am  happy  to  think  that  good  has  been 
done,  and  to  learn  from  you  that  the  conduct  of  that  nego 
tiation  received  the  approbation  of  the  citizens  of  Savannah. 
There  was  as  much,  perhaps,  in  the  favorable  circumstances  of 
the  occasion,  as  in  any  ability  manifested  in  the  conduct  of  the 
negotiation. 

You  have  alluded,  Sir,  to  the  spot  where  we  stand,  and  the 
monument  which  rises  before  us.  It  reminds  us,  indeed,  of  the 
days  of  the  Revolution,  when  State  called  upon  State  for  aid 
in  the  cause  of  independence.  What  citizen  of  Massachusetts 
can  forget  the  noble  response  of  Georgia  to  her  call  ?  Georgia 
was  then  far  distant ;  the  wonder-working  agency  of  the  tele 
graph,  that  annihilates  space,  was  then  undreamed  of,  and  long 
and  weary  miles  of  wilderness  intervened  between  the  oldest  and 
the  youngest  of  the  original  Thirteen.  But  the  call  was  heard 
and  answered.  The  blood  of  New  England,  in  her  turn,  was 
freely  poured  out  upon  Southern  soil,  and  her  sons  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  those  of  Georgia  in  the  common 
cause.  Sons  and  grandsons  of  those  patriots,  whom  I  now  ad 
dress  !  Georgians !  shall  we  not  cherish  the  recollection  of  those 


io2      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

common  sufferings  and  common  dangers ;  and  make  them  the 
incentives  towards  establishing  a  more  perfect  harmony  between 
their  descendants  ?  Those  whom  the  dangers  and  perils  of  war 
could  not  sever,  peace  should  not  separate. 

Others  may  value  this  union  of  confederated  States  as  a  con 
venience,  or  an  arrangement  or  a  compromise  of  interests ;  but 
I  desire  to  see  an  attachment  to  the  Union  existing  among  the 
people,  not  as  a  deduction  of  political  economy,  nor  as  a  result 
of  philosophical  reasoning,  but  cherished  as  a  heartfelt  senti 
ment.  I  wish  to  see  that  attachment  extended  from  one  ex 
tremity  of  this  confederacy  to  the  other,  not  by  telegraphic  com 
munications  alone,  but  through  the  medium  of  American  sym 
pathies  acting  upon  the  American  heart.  Massachusetts,  it  is 
true,  cannot  vie  with  Georgia  in  fertility  of  soil,  abundance  of 
resources,  or  the  boundless  facilities  of  internal  improvement, 
which  will  render  her,  at  no  distant  day,  one  of  the  mighti 
est  of  our  confederated  States.  Seven  States  like  Massachu 
setts  might  be  carved  out  of  Georgia,  and  yet  abundant  room 
be  left  for  the  formation  of  another  State.  The  natural  pro 
ducts  of  Massachusetts  (as  a  Southern  statesman  once  said)  are 
granite  and  ice.  Many  of  these  stately  buildings  that  tower 
above  me  are,  I  doubt  not,  indebted  to  Massachusetts  for  the 
granite  upon  which  they  are  reared.  Your  lines  of  railroads, 
even  now  stretching  almost  to  the  foot  of  your  mountain  ranges, 
beds  of  entire  granite,  will  soon  deprive  her  of  that  privilege ; 
but  our  hyperborean  winters  will  long  give  us  the  monopoly  of 
the  other  article  of  export,  and  if  we  are  not  destined  to  be  your 
"  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,"  we  shall  at  least  be 
your  "  hewers  of  ice  and  coolers  of  water" 

Never  before  was  I  so  forcibly  impressed  with  the  mighty  in 
fluence  of  that  great  modern  discovery,  steam-power,  as  an  en 
gine  of  improvement,  as  when,  during  my  journey  hither,  I  wit 
nessed  the  passage  of  the  long  train  of  cars  through  the  dense 
and  gloomy  pine  forests  of  your  interior,  self-moved  by  an  inner 
power  which  gave  no  visible  signs  of  its  existence  and  left  no 
trace  behind  it,  cleaving  those  solitudes  as  a  bird  cuts  the  air,  but 
urged  by  a  power  that  could  know  no  weariness  and  whose  en 
ergies  never  flagged.  It  was  a  most  impressive  lesson  of  the 
might  of  man  in  removing  natural  impediments  from  his  path 
of  progressive  improvement. 


Reception  at  Savannah  103 

Knowing,  as  I  do,  the  rapid  march  of  improvement  in  your 
State,  that  you  have  already  upwards  of  seven  hundred  miles  of 
railroad  completed,  and  much  more  projected,  I  cannot  but  re 
flect  upon  the  great  destinies  open  to  the  people  of  Georgia  if 
they  will  but  improve  the  opportunities  within  their  power. 

This  mighty  agent,  steam,  is  the  handmaid  of  improvements 
almost  beyond  contemplation.  Each  day  develops  new  bless 
ings  to  be  derived  from  it.  It  lessens  labor,  it  economizes 
time,  it  gives  the  poor  man  leisure  and  ability  to  travel,  it  joins 
together  the  most  remote  regions,  and  brings  their  inhabitants 
face  to  face,  establishing  a  harmony  of  interest  and  feeling  be 
tween  them.  It  limits  all  distinctions.  The  poor  and  the  rich, 
the  prince  and  the  peasant,  enjoy  now  equal  facilities  of  travel, 
and  can  procure  the  same  comforts  and  luxuries  from  distant 
points,  and,  when  they  travel,  they  sit  side  by  side  in  the  same 
rail-car.  The  individual  is  sinking,  and  the  mass  rising  up  in 
the  majesty  of  a  common  manhood.  For  a  long  time  after  the 
discovery  and  use  of  this  potent  agent,  it  was  thought  only  ap 
plicable  to  navigation,  and  this  prejudice  retarded  the  march 
of  improvements,  which  it  might  have  expedited.  For  a  long 
series  of  years  a  communication  between  the  waters  of  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  through  the  peninsula  of  Flor 
ida,  has  been  thought  desirable ;  but  this  prejudice  prevented  it, 
as  a  canal  was  considered  necessary  for  that  purpose.  But  rail 
roads  are  now  taking  the  place  of  canals,  and  the  completion  of 
a  southwestern  railroad  from  Savannah  to  Pensacola  is  only 
needed  to  make  those  two  cities  respectively  the  most  prosper 
ous  in  the  South,  uniting  as  it  would  the  best  seaport  on  the 
Southern  Atlantic  coast,  with  almost  the  only  good  harbor  on 
the  Mexican  Gulf. 

Five-and-twenty  years  ago,  from  my  place  in  Congress,  1 
pressed  this  matter,  but  the  times  were  not  ripe  for  it  then. 
Now  it  may  be  and  ought  to  be  carried  out,  and  I  pledge  to  this 
assembly  all  the  aid  and  influence  that  I  possess  in  carrying  it 
into  execution,  as  of  infinite  value  to  Georgia  and  the  entire 
Union. 

With  a  graceful  and  impressive  farewell  to  the  audience  who  had 
honored  him  with  their  presence  and  approbation,  Mr.  Webster,  amidst 
tumultuous  applause,  concluded  his  eloquent  address,  of  which  our 
meagre  sketch  is  but  the  faint  reflection. 


Opening  of  the  Northern  Railroad 


Opening  of  the  Northern  Railroad 
to  Grafton,  N.  H. 


AT  the  opening  of  the  Northern  Railroad  from  Franklin  to  Grafton  in 
New  Hampshire,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1847,  a  large  number  of  per 
sons  from  all  the  adjacent  towns  were  assembled  at  Grafton  to  witness 
the  ceremonies  of  the  occasion.  Mr.  Webster  happened  to  be  then  at 
his  farm  in  Salisbury,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood ;  and  this  fact  be 
ing  known  to  the  company,  he  was  spontaneously  called  upon,  in  the  most 
enthusiastic  manner,  to  address  them.  Mr.  Webster  readily  complied 
with  the  unexpected  summons,  and  made  the  following  remarks. 

I  am  very  happy,  fellow-citizens,  to  be  here  on  this  occasion, 
to  meet  here  the  Directors  of  the  Northern  Railroad,  the  direc 
tors  of  various  other  railroads  connected  with  it  below,  and  such 
a  number  of  my  fellow-citizens,  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the 
State.  Perhaps  my  pleasure  and  my  surprise  at  the  success  of 
this  great  enterprise  so  far  are  the  greater,  in  consequence  of  my 
early  acquaintance  with  this  region  and  all  its  localities. 

But,  Gentlemen,  I  see  the  rain  is  beginning  to  descend  fast, 
and  I  pray  you  to  take  shelter  under  some  of  these  roofs.  ( Cries 
of  "  Go  on  !  go  on !  Never  mind  us ! ") 

In  my  youth  and  early  manhood  I  have  traversed  these  moun 
tains  along  all  the  roads  or  passes  which  lead  through  or  over 
them.  We  are  on  Smith's  River,  which,  while  in  college,  I  had 
occasion  to  swim.  Even  that  could  not  always  be  done ;  and  I 
have  occasionally  made  a  circuit  of  many  rough  and  tedious 
miles  to  get  over  it.  At  that  day,  steam,  as  a  motive  power, 
acting  on  water  and  land,  was  thought  of  by  nobody ;  nor  were 
there  good,  practicable  roads  in  this  part  of  the  State.  At  that 
day,  one  must  have  traversed  this  wilderness  on  horseback  or  on 
foot.  So  late  as  when  I  left  college,  then*  was  no  road  from  river 


io8       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

to  river  for  a  carriage  fit  for  the  conveyance  of  persons.  I  well 
recollect  the  commencement  of  the  system  of  turnpike  roads. 
The  granting  of  the  charter  of  the  fourth  turnpike,  which  led  from 
Lebanon  to  Boscawen,  was  regarded  as  a  wonderful  era.  The 
champion  in  the  legislature  of  this  great  enterprise  was  Benja 
min  J.  Gilbert,  then  a  lawyer  at  Hanover,  always  a  most  amia 
ble  and  excellent  man,  and  now  enjoying  a  healthful  old  age  in 
the  city  of  Boston.  I  think  he  is  eighty-four  years  old.  He  is 
well  known  to  the  elder  inhabitants  of  this  county,  and  I  am 
glad  of  this  opportunity  to  allude  to  him  as  a  highly  valued 
friend  of  long  standing. 

I  remember  to  have  attended  the  first  meeting  of  the  propri 
etors  of  this  turnpike  at  Andover.  It  was  difficult  to  persuade 
men  that  it  was  possible  to  have  a  passable  carriage  road  over 
these  mountains.  I  was  too  young  and  too  poor  to  be  a  sub 
scriber,  but  I  held  the  proxies  of  several  absent  subscribers,  and 
what  I  lacked  in  knowledge  and  experience  I  made  up  in  zeal. 
As  far  as  I  now  remember,  my  first  speech  after  I  lelt  col 
lege  was  in  favor  of  what  was  then  regarded  as  a  great  and 
almost  impracticable  internal  improvement,  to  wit,  the  making 
of  a  smooth,  though  hilly,  road  from  Connecticut  River,  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  White  River,  to  the  Merrimack  River  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Contoocook.  Perhaps  the  most  valuable  result  of 
making  these  and  other  turnpike  roads  was  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  upon  road-making  among  the  people ;  for  in  a  few 
years  afterward,  great  numbers  of  the  people  went  to  church,  to 
electoral  and  other  meetings,  in  chaises  and  wagons,  over  very 
tolerable  roads.  The  next  step  after  turnpikes  was  canals. 
Governor  Sullivan,  Dr.  Dexter,  Colonel  Baldwin,  and  other  emi 
nent  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  had  planned  the  Middlesex  Ca 
nal,  connecting  the  Merrimack  River  at  Pawtucket  Falls,  near 
where  Lowell  now  is,  with  Boston.  And  a  canal  was  built 
around  those  falls  also,  to  complete  a  water  conveyance  to  New- 
buryport.  Great  expense  was  incurred  afterward  in  locking  the 
various  falls  higher  up  the  river,  until  at  length  the  river  was 
made  navigable  for  boats  as  high  up  as  Concord.  This  was 
thought  to  be  a  great  and  most  useful  achievement,  and  so  in 
deed  it  was;  But  a  vastly  greater  was  now  approaching,  the 
era  of  steam.  That  is  the  invention  which  distinguishes  this 
age.  The  application  of  steam  to  the  moving  of  heavy  bodies, 


Opening  of  Railroad  to  Grafton    109 

on  the  water  and  on  the  land,  towers  above  all  other  inventions 
of  this  or  the  preceding  age,  as  the  Cardigan  Mountain  now  be 
fore  us  lifts  itself  above  the  little  hillocks  at  its  base. 

Fellow-citizens,  can  we  without  wonder  consider  where  we 
are,  and  what  has  brought  us  here  ?  Several  of  this  company 
left  Boston  and  Salem  this  morning.  They  passed  the  Kearsarge 
on  the  left,  the  Ragged  Mountain  on  the  right,  have  threaded  all 
the  valleys  and  gorges,  and  here  they  now  are  at  two  o'clock 
at  the  foot  of  the  Cardigan  Hills.  They  probably  went  to  the 
market  this  morning,  ordered  their  dinners,  went  home  to  a  leis 
urely  breakfast,  and  set  out  on  their  journey  hither.  Here  they 
now  are,  enjoying  the  collation  of  our  hospitable  friend,  Mr. 
Cass,  at  the  hour  when  their  families  are  dining  at  home.  By 
the  way,  if  they  had  thought  fit,  (and  it  would  have  been  a  happy 
thought,)  they  might  have  brought  us  a  few  fish  taken  out  of  the 
sea  at  sunrise  this  morning,  and  we  might  here  enjoy  as  good  a 
fish  dinner  as  our  friends  are  now  enjoying  at  Phillips's  Beach 
or  Nahant.  This  would  have  been  rather  striking ;  —  a  chowder 
at  the  foot  of  the  Cardigan  Hills  would  have  been  a  thing  to  be 
talked  about. 

Fellow-citizens,  this  railroad  may  be  said  to  bring  the  sea  to 
your  doors.  You  cannot,  indeed,  snuff  its  salt  water,  but  you 
will  taste  its  best  products,  as  fresh  as  those  who  live  on  its 
shores.  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  policy  more  useful  to  the 
great  mass  of  the  community  than  the  policy  which  established 
these  public  improvements.  Let  me  say,  fellow-citizens,  that  in 
the  history  of  human  inventions  there  is  hardly  one  so  well  cal 
culated  as  that  of  railroads  to  equalize  the  condition  of  men. 
The  richest  must  travel  in  the  cars,  for  there  they  travel  fastest ; 
the  poorest  can  travel  in  the  cars,  while  they  could  not  travel 
otherwise,  because  this  mode  of  conveyance  costs  but  little  time 
or  money.  Probably  there  are  in  the  multitude  before  rne  those 
who  have  friends  at  such  distances  that  they  could  hardly  have 
visited  them,  had  not  railroads  come  to  their  assistance  to  save 
them  time  and  to  save  them  expense.  Men  are  thus  brought 
together  as  neighbors  and  acquaintances,  who  live  two  hundred 
miles  apart. 

We  sometimes  hear  idle  prejudices  expressed  against  railroads 
because  they  are  close  corporations  ;  but  so  from  the  necessity 
of  the  case  they  necessarily  must  be,  because  the  track  of  a  rail- 


no      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

way  cannot  be  a  road  upon  which  every  man  may  drive  his  own 
carriage.  Sometimes,  it  is  true,  these  railroads  interrupt  or  an 
noy  individuals  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  property;  for  these 
cases  the  most  ample  compensation  ought  to  be  made.  I  have 
myself  had  a  little  taste  of  this  inconvenience.  When  the  direc 
tors  of  the  road  resolved  to  lay  it  out  upon  the  river  (as  I  must 
say  they  were  very  wise  in  doing),  they  showed  themselves  a 
little  too  loving  to  me,  coming  so  near  my  farm-house,  that  the 
thunder  of  their  engines  and  the  screams  of  their  steam -whis 
tles,  to  say  nothing  of  other  inconveniences,  not  a  little  dis 
turbed  the  peace  and  the  repose  of  its  occupants.  There  is, 
beside,  an  awkward  and  ugly  embankment  thrown  up  across  my 
meadows.  It  injures  the  looks  of  the  fields.  But  I  have  ob 
served,  fellow-citizens,  that  railroad  directors  and  railroad  pro 
jectors  are  no  enthusiastic  lovers  of  landscape  beauty ;  a  hand 
some  field  or  lawn,  beautiful  copses,  and  all  the  gorgeousness  of 
forest  scenery,  pass  for  little  in  their  eyes.  Their  business  is  to 
cut  and  to  slash,  to  level  or  deface  a  finely  rounded  field,  and  fill 
up  beautifully  winding  valleys.  They  are  quite  .utilitarian  in 
their  creed  and  in  their  practice.  Their  business  is  to  make  a 
good  road.  They  look  upon  a  well-constructed  embankment  as 
an  agreeable  work  of  art ;  they  behold  with  delight  a  long,  deep 
cut  through  hard  pan  and  rock,  such  as  we  have  just  passed ; 
and  if  they  can  find  a  fair  reason  to  run  a  tunnel  under  a  deep 
mountain,  they  are  half  in  raptures.  To  be  serious,  Gentlemen, 
I  must  say  I  admire  the  skill,  the  enterprise,  and  that  rather  bold 
defiance  of  expense,  which  have  enabled  the  directors  of  this  road 
to  bring  it  with  an  easy  ascent  more  than  five  hundred  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  Merrimac  River.  We  shall  soon  see  it  cross  yon 
der  mountainous  ridge,  commonly  called  "  the  Height  of  Land," 
and  thence  pitch  down  into  the  fan*  valley  of  the  Connecticut. 

Fellow-citizens,  you  who  live  along  the  line  of  the  road  must 
already  begin  to  feel  its  beneficial  effects.  Your  country  is 
rather  a  rough  one.  There  are,  indeed,  good  lands  about  the 
base  of  the  Kearsarge,  on  Beach  Hill,  Babcock's  Hill,  and  other 
places  adjacent  to  the  road.  There  are  other  portions  not  so 
fertile.  We  may  infer  this  from  the  names  they  bear.  We 
have  come  through  "  Little  Gains,"  "  Hard  Scrabble,"  and 
u  Dungeswamp,"  which  latter,  I  understand,  is  an  Indian  word 
to  signify  the  poorest  land  in  creation.  But,  fellow-citizens, 


Opening  of  Railroad  to  Grafton     1 1 1 

health  and  industry,  good  morals  and  good  government,  have 
made  your  homes  among  these  mountains  prosperous  and  hap 
py.  This  great  improvement  comes  to  your  farther  assistance. 
It  will  give  you  new  facilities,  connect  you  more  readily  with 
other  portions  of  the  State,  and  most  assuredly,  according  to  all 
experience,  create  new  objects  for  the  application  of  your  enter 
prise  and  your  labor.  You  do  not  yet  begin  to  feel  the  bene 
fits  which  it  will  confer  on  you.  I  rejoice  most  heartily  that 
my  native  State  has  adopted  a  policy  which  has  led  to  these 
results,  I  trust  that  policy  may  be  steadily  pursued,  till  internal 
improvement  in  some  really  and  intrinsically  useful  form  shall 
reach  every  glen  and  every  mountain-side  of  the  State. 

And  now,  my  friends,  having  thus  shortly  complied  with  the 
wish  expressed  by  you  that  I  should  address  you  in  a  few  words, 
1  take  a  respectful  leave  of  you,  tendering  to  you  all  at  parting 
my  best  wishes  for  your  health  and  prosperity. 


Opening   of  the    Northern    Railroad   to 
Lebanon,  N.  H. 


ON  Wednesday,  the  17th  of  November,  1847,  the  Northern  Railroad 
was  farther  opened  to  Lebanon,  in  New  Hampshire.  This  event  was 
celebrated  by  a  large  number  of  persons  who  came  from  Boston  for 
that  purpose,  and  by  a  great  concourse  from  the  neighboring  region. 
The  train  made  a  halt  at  South  Franklin  for  the  purpose  of  taking  in 
Mr.  Webster,  then  on  a  visit  to  his  farm  in  that  place.  A  collation  had 
been  prepared  for  the  company  at  Lebanon.  At  this  entertainment,  a 
toast  in  honor  of  Mr.  Webster  was  proposed  by  Charles  T.  Russell, 
Esq.,  of  Boston,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  to  which 
Mr.  Webster  responded  as  follows. 

I  WISH,  Sir,  that  the  gentleman  who  has  done  me  the  honor 
to  propose  the  toast  just  given  had  called  upon  some  other  per 
son  than  myself  to  address  the  meeting,  and  had  left  me  in  the 
position  of  a  listener  merely.  But  I  could  not  properly  refrain 
from  expressing  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  manner  in  which  my 
name  has  been  announced  by  the  president,  and  received  by  the 
assembly.  Thus  called  upon  to  speak,  I  cannot  disregard  the 
summons.  Undoubtedly  the  present  is  a  moment  of  great  in 
terest,  and  I  now  have  to  perform  the  pleasing  duty  of  congrat 
ulating  the  directors  and  stockholders  of  this  road  upon  the  suc 
cessful  completion  of  their  enterprise ;  and  also  the  citizens 
residing  in  this  part  of  the  country  upon  the  result  which  has 
been  witnessed  to-day,  the  entire  accomplishment  of  this  most 
important  work.  It  is  an  undertaking  not  only  important  in 
itself,  but  also  very  important  when  regarded  as  a  link  in  the 
great  chain  of  railroads  which  is  to  connect  the  West  with  the 
sea-coast. 

For  myself,  in  considering  the  progress  of  railroad  structures 


Opening  of  Railroad  to  Lebanon     113 

throughout  the  country,  I  have  been,  doubtless  many  other 
individuals  have  been,  generally  contented  with  admiring  the 
enterprise  manifested,  the  ingenuity  displayed,  the  industry 
shown  in  carrying  them  forward  to  completion.  But  here,  on 
this  occasion,  there  is  to  me  a  matter  of  peculiar  interest.  Per 
haps,  and  very  possibly,  this  is  because  the  road  whose  comple 
tion  is  now  to  be  hailed  runs  not  only  through  New  Hampshire, 
my  native  State,  but  also  through  that  part  of  New  Hampshire 
in  which  I  have  a  considerable  personal  interest.  This  is  but 
natural,  for  the  road  passes  through  my  own  farm,  my  own  New 
Hampshire  home. 

This  Northern  Railroad  is  destined  to  be  connected  with  two 
other  roads  of  vast  importance,  each  having  Montreal  for  its 
end.  The  one  will  traverse  Vermont,  passing  Montpelier,  and 
proceeding  along  the  valley  of  the  Winooski  to  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  while  the  other  will  extend  itself  up  the  valley  of  the 
Passumpsic.  Each,  for  the  present,  has  its  terminus  at  Mon 
treal  ;  so  that  the  traveller  from  the  Atlantic  coast,  arriving  at 
Lebanon,  might  have  a  choice  to  make  between  the  routes. 
This  choice,  perhaps,  may  occasionally  be  perplexing.  The  pas 
senger  from  the  coast  to  the  St.  Lawrence  may  not  know  on 
which  line  travel  is  best,  or  which  is  most  convenient  for  his 
purposes.  It  may  not  improbably  so  happen,  that  the  traveller 
will  compromise  the  matter,  deciding  to  go  on  by  the  one  route, 
and  return  by  the  other.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  both  lines 
have  my  best  wishes  for  their  entire  success. 

My  friend,  the  presiding  officer,  has  spoken  of  Burlington  and 
Montreal  as  the  termini  of  this  road.  But  in  point  of  fact,  this 
is  a  mere  link,  a  part  of  a  line  of  land  navigation,  by  steam, 
from  Boston  to  Ogdensburg,  and  thence,  by  land  and  water,  to 
the  Great  West.  I  do  not  exactly  remember  whether  it  was  Mr. 
Gouverneur  Morris  or  Mr.  Clinton  who  said,  with  regard  to  the 
Erie  Canal,  that  the  object  and  aim  of  that  undertaking  were  to 
tt  tap  Lake  Erie,  and  draw  down  its  waters  to  New  York  har 
bor."  One  or  the  other  of  these  two  great  men  it  was,  and  the 
design  has  been  carried  out.  It  may  not,  perhaps,  be  proper  for 
me  to  say,  that  the  design  of  this  road,  with  its  extensions,  is  to 
tap  the  St.  Lawrence,  but  it  can  be  asserted,  and  with  truth, 
that  it  was  to  relieve  that  noble  river  of  a  large  portion  of  its 
great,  rich,  overwhelming  burdens;  and  deliver  its  freight,  or  at 

VOL.  IV.  —  8 


ii4      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

least  a  great  part  of  its  freight,  at  the  Atlantic  shore,  by  a  more 
safe,  speedy,  and  cheap  conveyance  than  any  before  available. 
That,  I  imagine,  must  be  clear  to  all. 

Again,  no  one  can  fail  to  perceive  how  greatly  instrumental 
this  road,  with  its  extension,  will  prove  in  bringing  Ogdensburg 
near  to  Boston,  —  as  near,  indeed,  as  Buffalo  now  is  to  Albany. 
This  connection  between  Ogdensburg  and  the  capital  of  New 
England  would  open  at  once  a  new  thoroughfare  for  the  prod 
ucts  of  the  West,  an  outlet  hitherto  untried,  through  which  the 
commodities  of  Lake  Superior  and  the  other  upper  lakes  may 
seek  and  reach  the  Atlantic  by  the  way  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
and  its  chief  port.  I  will  not  undertake  to  compare  the  little 
city  of  Boston  with  the  great  city  of  New  York,  preeminent  as 
New » York  is,  among  the  cities  of  America,  for  her  extended 
commerce  and  her  facilities  for  its  increase.  The  great  city  of 
our  neighboring  State  towers  above  all  rivals  in  respect  to  every 
advantage  of  commercial  position.  Let  her  enjoy  all  the  ben 
efit  she  can,  let  her  claim  all  the  credit  she  can  from  this  cir 
cumstance.  Neither  envy  nor  malice,  on  my  part,  shall  con 
tribute  to  rob  her  of  one  of  her  well  deserved  laurels.  But  with 
out  any  very  great  arrogance,  or  any  very  undue  exhibition  of 
local  pride,  we  may  say  that  Boston,  with  her  adjacent  towns, 
throughout  all  the  neighboring  shore  from  Hingham  to  Marble- 
head,  —  which  extent  of  country,  in  effect,  is  but  one  seaport,  cer 
tainly  one  so  far  as  commercial  and  manufacturing  industry  is 
concerned,  —  is  entitled  to  command  some  degree  of  respect  from 
the  whole  confederation  of  our  States.  Standing,  indeed,  upon 
the  summit  of  Bunker  Hill,  one  can  look  around  upon  a  terri 
tory,  and  a  population,  equal  to  that  of  New  York  and  her  im 
mediate  suburbs.  In  fact,  from  Boston  to  Newburyport  it  is  all 
one  city ;  and  by  the  development  of  her  own  enterprise,  Boston, 
with  her  environs,  has  made  herself  a  rival  not  lightly  to  be  con 
temned  by  any  city  of  the  country.  I  will  for  one  not  under 
take  to  estimate  the  increased  extent  of  her  commerce  when 
all  the  links  in  her  chain  of  railroad  communication  shall  be 
completed. 

There  is  another  consideration  which  will  commend  itself  to 
those  who  would  contemplate  the  immediate  future.  It  is  this, 
that  there  will  soon  be  an  entire  railroad  line  from  New  York, 
through  New  Haven,  Hartford,  and  Springfield,  not  only  to  Bos- 


Opening  of  Railroad  to  Lebanon      115 

ton,  but  up  the  valleys  of  the  Connecticut  and  Passumpsic,  to 
Montreal.  It  is  the  impression  of  many,  that  land  in  New  Eng 
land  is  poor;  and  doubtless  such  is  the  fact  with  regard  to 
a  great  portion  of  it.  But  throughout  the  whole  United  States 
I  do  not  know  of  a  richer  or  more  beautiful  valley,  as  a  whole, 
than  that  of  the  Connecticut  River.  Parts  of  it  are  worth  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  an  acre  for  the  purpose  of  cultivation, 
and  there  is  no  land  in  the  West  worth  half  so  much.  I  cannot 
say  so  much  for  the  land  of  the  Merrimack  valley  for  cultivation, 
but  that  portion  of  the  country  is  rich  in  water-power,  rich  in 
manufacturing  industry,  and  rich  in  human  energy  and  enter 
prise.  These  are  its  elements  of  wealth ;  and  these  elements 
will  soon  be  developed,  in  a  great  measure  by  the  means  of  rail 
road  communication,  to  a  surprising  extent.  The  whole  region 
of  country  along  this  line  of  road,  a  distance  say  of  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles,  will,  before  our  children  have  ceased 
to  be  active  among  the  sons  of  men,  be  one  of  the  richest  por 
tions  of  the  whole  world.  Such,  I  really  believe,  is  the  destiny 
of  the  Merrimack  valley.  Rich,  not  in  the  fertility  of  the  soil  on 
its  banks,  but  in  its  almost  illimitable  water-power,  the  energy 
and  industry  of  its  people,  and  the  application  of  these  elements 
to  the  improvement  and  extension  of  productive  machinery.  It 
may  soon  be  said  of  this  beautiful  river,  with  even  more  truth 
than  applied  to  the  poet's  glorious  lines  upon  the  Thames,  — 

"  Though  with  those  streams  it  no  resemblance  hold, 
Whose  foam  is  amber  and  whose  gravel  gold, 
Its  greater,  but  less  guilty,  wealth  to  explore, 
Search  not  its  bottom,  but  survey  its  shore." 

And  now  what  is  the  particular  cause  of  all  the  prosperity 
and  wealth  which  I  foresee  in  this  valley  ?  What  is  it  that  has 
chiselled  down  these  Grafton  rocks,  and  made  this  road  which 
brings  my  own  house  so  near  to  the  home  of  my  most  distant 
New  Hampshire  hearer  ?  It  is  popular  industry ;  it  is  free  labor. 
Probably  there  never  was  an  undertaking  which  was  more  the 
result  of  popular  feeling  than  this.  I  am  told  that  there  are  fif 
teen  hundred  stockholders  in  the  enterprise,  the  capital  being  two 
millions  and  a  half.  That  single  fact  would  serve  to  show  the 
generally  diffused  interest  felt  by  the  people  in  its  success.  It  is 
but  three  or  four  years  since,  when,  having  occasion  to  visit  my 


n6       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

farm  at  Franklin,  I  observed  a  line  of  shingles  stretching  across 
my  fields.  Asking  my  farmer  what  was  the  meaning  of  all  this, 
I  was  answered,  "  It  is  the  line  of  our  railroad."  Our  railroad ! 
That  is  the  way  the  people  talked  about  it.  I  laughed  at  the 
idea  at  first ;  and,  in  conversation  with  a  neighbor,  inquired  what 
in  the  world  they  wanted  of  a  railroad  there.  "  Why,"  was  the 
reply,  "  the  people  want  a  ride  behind  the  iron  horse,  and  that 
ride  they  will  have."  This  day  they  have  had  it.  The  result 
has  proved,  not  that  my  friend  was  too  sanguine,  but  that  I 
was  too  incredulous. 

It  is  the  spirit  and  influence  of  free  labor,  it  is  the  indomitable 
industry  of  a  free  people,  that  has  done  all  this.  There  is  mani 
fested  in  its  accomplishment  that  without  which  the  most  fertile 
field  by  nature  must  remain  for  ever  barren.  Human  sagacity, 
skill,  and  industry,  the  zealous  determination  to  improve  and 
profit  by  labor,  have  done  it  all.  That  determination  has  no 
where  been  more  conspicuously  displayed  than  here.  New 
Hampshire,  it  is  true,  is  no  classic  ground.  She  has  no  Virgil 
and  no  Eclogues.  She  has  a  stern  climate  and  a  stern  soil. 
But  her  climate  is  fitted  to  invigorate  men,  and  her  soil  is  cov 
ered  with  the  evidences  of  the  comforts  of  individual  and  social 
life.  As  the  traveller  pursues  his  way  along  her  roads,  he  sees 
all  this.  He  sees  those  monuments  of  civilization  and  refine 
ment,  churches ;  he  sees  those  marks  of  human  progress,  school- 
houses,  with  children  clustering  around  their  doors  as  thick  as 
bees.  And  they  are  bees,  except  in  one  respect.  The  distinc 
tion  is,  that  whereas  the  insect  day  after  day  returns  to  its  home 
laden  with  the  spoils  of  the  field,  the  human  creature  is  admitted 
to  the  hive  but  once.  His  mind  is  furnished  with  the  stores 
of  learning,  he  is  allowed  to  drink  his  fill  at  the  fountains  of 
knowledge,  his  energies  are  trained  in  the  paths  of  industry,  and 
he  is  then  sent  out  into  the  world,  to  acquire  his  own  subsist 
ence  and  help  to  promote  the  welfare  of  his  kind. 

It  is  an  extraordinary  era  in  which  we  live.  It  is  altogether 
new.  The  world  has  seen  nothing  like  it  before.  I  will  not 
pretend,  no  one  can  pretend,  to  discern  the  end ;  but  every  body 
knows  that  the  age  is  remarkable  for  scientific  research  into  the 
heavens,  the  earth,  and  what  is  beneath  the  earth ;  and  perhaps 
more  remarkable  still  for  the  application  of  this  scientific  re 
search  to  the  pursuits  of  life.  The  ancients  saw  nothing  like  it. 


Opening  of  Railroad  to  Lebanon     117 

The  moderns  have  seen  nothing  like  it  till  the  present  gener 
ation.  Shakspeare's  fairy  said  he  would 

"  Put  a  girdle  round  about  the  earth 
In  forty  minutes." 

Professor  Morse  has  done  more  than  that ;  his  girdle  requires 
far  less  time  for  its  traverse.  In  fact,  if  one  were  to  send  a  de 
spatch  from  Boston  by  the  telegraph  at  twelve  o'clock,  it  would 
reach  St  Louis  at  a  quarter  before  twelve.  This  is  what 
may  be  called  doing  a  thing  in  less  than  no  time.  We  see  the 
ocean  navigated  and  the  solid  land  traversed  by  steam  power, 
and  intelligence  communicated  by  electricity.  Truly  this  is  al 
most  a  miraculous  era.  What  is  before  us  no  one  can  say, 
what  is  upon  us  no  one  can  hardly  realize.  The  progress  of  the 
age  has  almost  outstripped  human  belief;  the  future  is  known 
only  to  Omniscience. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  say  that  all  these  benefits  and  ad 
vantages  conferred  upon  us  by  Providence  should  only  strength 
en  our  resolves  to  turn  them  to  the  best  account,  not  merely  in 
material  progress,  but  in  the  moral  improvement  of  our  minds 
and  hearts.  Whatsoever  else  we  may  see  of  the  wonders  of 
science  and  art,  our  eyes  should  not  be  closed  to  that  great 
truth,  that,  after  all,  "  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom." 


Speech  at  Marshfield 


Introductory  Note 


The  following  correspondence  explains  the  occasion  of  the  meeting 
at  Marshfield,  at  which  the  following  speech  was  delivered. 

"  Marshfield,  Mass.,  Aug.  2,  1848. 
"  HON.  DANIEL  WEBSTER  :  — 

"  Dear  Sir,  —  The  undersigned,  Whigs  and  fellow-citizens  of  yours, 
are  desirous  of  seeing  and  conferring  with  you  on  the  subject  of  our  na 
tional  policy,  and  of  hearing  your  opinions  freely  expressed  thereon. 
We  look  anxiously  on  the  present  aspect  of  public  affairs,  and  on  the 
position  hi  which  the  Whig  party,  and  especially  Northern  Whigs,  are 
now  placed.  We  should  be  grieved  indeed  to  see  General  Cass  —  so 
decided  an  opponent  of  all  those  measures  which  we  think  essential  to 
the  honor  and  interests  of  the  country  and  the  prosperity  of  all  classes — 
elected  to  the  chief  magistracy.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  to  be  con 
cealed,  that  there  is  much  discontent  with  the  nomination  made  by  the  late 
Philadelphia  Convention,  of  a  Southern  man,  a  military  man,  fresh  from 
bloody  fields,  and  known  only  by  his  sword,  as  a  Whig  candidate  for 
the  Presidency. 

"  So  far  as  is  in  our  humble  ability,  we  desire  to  preserve  the  Union 
and  the  Whig  party,  and  to  perpetuate  Whig  principles ;  but  we  wish 
to  see  also  that  these  principles  may  be  preserved,  and  this  Union  per 
petuated,  in  a  manner  consistent  with  the  rights  of  the  Free  States,  and 
the  prevention  of  the  farther  extension  of  the  slave  power ;  and  we 
dread  the  effects  of  the  precedent,  which  we  think  eminently  dangerous, 
and  as  not  exhibiting  us  in  a  favorable  light  to  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
of  elevating  a  mere  military  man  to  the  Presidency. 

"  We  think  a  crisis  is  upon  us  ;  and  we  would  gladly  know  how  we  may 
best  discharge  our  duties  as  true  Americans,  honest  men,  and  good 
Whigs.  To  you,  who  have  been  so  long  in  public  life,  and  are  able 
from  your  great  experience  and  unrivalled  ability  to  give  us  information 
and  advice,  and  upon  whom,  as  neighbors  and  friends,  we  think  we 
have  some  claims,  we  naturally  look,  and  we  should  be  exceedingly 
gratified  if,  in  any  way,  public  or  private,  you  would  express  your  opin 
ion  upon  interesting  public  questions  now  pending,  with  that  boldness 
and  distinctness  with  which  you  are  accustomed  to  declare  your  senti 
ments.  If  you  can  concur  with  our  wishes,  please  signify  to  us  in  what 


122       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

manner  it  would  be  most  agreeable  to  you  that  they  should  be  carried 
into  effect. 

"  With  very  great  regard,  your  obedient  servants, 

"  DANIEL  PHILLIPS, 
GEORGE  LEONARD, 
GEO.  H.  WETHERBEE, 
and  many  others." 

To  this  invitation  Mr  Webster  returned  the  following  reply :  — 

u  Marshfield,  Aug.  3,  1848. 

"  GENTLEMEN,  —  I  have  received  your  letter.  The  critical  state  of 
things  at  Washington  obliges  me  to  think  it  my  duty  to  repair  thither 
immediately  and  take  my  seat  in  the  Senate,  notwithstanding  the  state 
of  my  health  and  the  heat  of  the  weather  render  it  disagreeable  for  me 
to  leave  home. 

"  I  cannot,  therefore,  comply  with  your  wishes  at  present ;  but  on  my 
return,  if  such  should  continue  to  be  your  desire,  I  will  meet  you  and 
the  other  Whigs  of  Marshfield,  in  an  unceremonious  manner,  that  we 
may  confer  upon  the  topics  to  which  your  letter  relates. 

"  I  am,  Gentlemen,  with  esteem  and  friendship, 

"  Your  obliged  fellow-citizen, 

"  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

"  To  Messrs.  DANIEL  PHILLIPS,  GEORGE  LEONARD, 
GEO.  H.  WETHERBEE,  and  others." 

Soon  after  Mr.  Webster's  return  from  Washington,  it  was  arranged 
that  the  meeting  should  take  place  at  the  "  Winslow  House,"  the  ancient 
seat  of  the  Winslow  family,  now  forming  a  part  of  Mr.  Webster's 
farm  at  Marshfield,  on  Friday,  the  first  day  of  September. 


Speech  at  Marshfield 


ALTHOUGH  it  is  not  ray  purpose,  during  the  present  recess 
of  Congress,  frequently  to  address  public  assemblies  on  political 
subjects,  I  have  felt  it  my  duty  to  comply  with  your  request,  as 
neighbors  and  townsmen,  and  to  meet  you  to-day ;  and  I  am 
not  unwilling  to  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  signify  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  my  opinions  upon  the  present  state 
of  our  public  affairs.  I  shall  perform  that  duty,  certainly  with 
great  frankness,  I  hope  with  candor.  It  is  not  my  intention  to 
day  to  endeavor  to  carry  any  point,  to  act  as  any  man's  advo 
cate,  to  put  up  or  put  down  any  body.  I  wish,  and  I  propose,  to 
address  you  in  the  language  and  in  the  spirit  of  conference  and 
consultation.  In  the  present  extraordinary  crisis  of  our  public 
concerns,  I  desire  to  hold  no  man's  conscience  but  my  own.  My 
own  opinions  I  shall  communicate,  freely  and  fearlessly,  with 
equal  disregard  to  consequences,  whether  they  respect  myself  or 
respect  others. 

We  are  on  the  eve  of  a  highly  important  Presidential  election. 
In  two  or  three  months  the  people  of  this  country  will  be  called 
upon  to  elect  an  executive  chief  magistrate  of  the  United 
States;  and  all  see,  and  all  feel,  that  great  interests  of  the 
country  are  to  be  affected,  for  good  or  evil,  by  the  results  of  that 
election.  Of  the  interesting  subjects  over  which  the  person 
who  shall  be  elected  must  necessarily  exercise  more  or  less  con 
trol,  there  are  especially  three,  vitally  connected,  in  my  judgment, 
with  the  honor  and  happiness  of  the  country.  In  the  first  place, 
the  honor  and  happiness  of  the  country  imperatively  require  that 
there  shall  be  a  chief  magistrate  elected  who  shall  not  plunge 

*  Delivered  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Citizens  of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts,  on  the 
1st  of  September,  1848 


124       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

as  into  further  wars  of  ambition  and  conquest.  In  the  second 
place,  in  my  judgment,  the  interests  of  the  country  and  the  feel 
ing  of  a  vast  majority  of  the  people  require  that  a  President  of 
these  United  States  should  be  elected,  who  will  neither  use 
official  influence  to  promote,  nor  feel  any  desire  in  his  heart 
to  promote,  the  further  extension  of  slavery  in  this  community, 
or  its  further  influence  in  the  public  councils.  In  the  third 
place,  if  I  have  any  just  estimate,  if  an  experience  not  now 
a  short  one  in  public  affairs  has  enabled  me  to  know  any  thing 
of  what  the  public  interest  demands,  the  state  of  the  country 
requires  an  essential  reform  in  the  system  of  revenue  and 
finance,  such  as  shall  restore  the  prosperity,  by  prompting  the 
industry  and  fostering  the  labor  of  the  country,  in  its  various 
branches.  There  are  other  things  important,  but  I  will  not  al 
lude  to  them.  These  three  I  hold  to  be  essential. 

There  are  three  candidates  presented  to  the  choice  of  the 
American  people.  General  Taylor  is  the  Whig  candidate, 
standing  upon  the  nomination  of  the  Whig  Convention ;  Gen 
eral  Cass  is  the  candidate  of  the  opposing  and  now  dominant 
party  in  the  country ;  and  a  third  candidate  is  presented  in  the 
person  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  by  a  convention  of  citizens  assem 
bled  at  Buffalo,  whose  object,  or  whose  main  object,  as  it  ap 
pears  to  me,  is  contained  in  one  of  those  considerations  which 
I  have  mentioned ;  and  that  is,  the  prevention  of  the  further 
increase  of  slavery;  —  an  object  in  which  you  and  I,  Gen 
tlemen,  so  far  as  that  goes,  entirely  concur  with  them,  I  am 
sure. 

Most  of  us  who  are  here  to-day  are  Whigs,  National  Whigs, 
Massachusetts  Whigs,  Old  Colony  Whigs,  and  Marshfield 
Whigs,  and  if  the  Whig  nomination  made  at  Philadelphia  were 
entirely  satisfactory  to  the  people  of  Massachusetts  and  to  us,  our 
path  of  duty  would  be  plain.  But  the  nomination  of  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency  made  by  the  Whig  Convention  at  Philadel 
phia  is  not  satisfactory  to  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts.  That  is 
certain,  and  it  would  be  idle  to  attempt  to  conceal  the  fact.  It  is 
more  just  and  more  patriotic,  it  is  more  manly  and  practical,  to 
take  facts  as  they  are,  and  things  as  they  are,  and  to  deduce  our 
own  conviction  of  duty  from  what  exists  before  us.  However 
respectable  and  distinguished  in  the  line  of  his  own  profession,  or 
however  estimable  as  a  private  citizen,  General  Taylor  is  a  mili- 


Speech  at  Marshfield  125 


tary  man,  and  a  military  man  merely.  He  has  had  no  training 
in  civil  affairs.  He  has  performed  no  functions  of  a  civil  nature 
under  the  Constitution  of  his  country.  He  has  been  known, 
and  is  known,  only  by  his  brilliant  achievements  at  the  head  of 
an  army.  Now  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts,  and  I  among  them, 
are  of  opinion  that  it  was  not  wise,  nor  discreet,  to  go  to  the 
army  for  the  selection  of  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  the  first  instance  in  then*  history  in  which 
any  man  of  mere  military  character  has  been  proposed  for  that 
high  office.  General  Washington  was  a  great  military  charac 
ter  ;  but  by  far  a  greater  civil  character.  He  had  been  employed 
in  the  councils  of  his  country  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  the  Rev 
olution.  He  had  been  in  the  Continental  Congress,  and  he  had 
established  a  great  character  for  civil  wisdom  and  judgment. 
After  the  war,  as  you  know,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  that 
convention  which  formed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ; 
and  it  is  one  of  the  most  honorable  tributes  ever  paid  to  him, 
that  by  that  assembly  of  good  and  wise  men  he  was  selected  to 
preside  over  their  deliberations.  And  he  put  his  name  first  and 
foremost  to  the  Constitution  under  which  we  live.  President 
Harrison  was  bred  a  soldier,  and  at  different  periods  of  his  life 
rendered  important  military  services.  But  President  Harrison, 
nevertheless,  was  for  a  much  greater  period  of  his  life  employed 
in  civil  than  in  military  service.  For  twenty  years  he  was  either 
governor  of  a  Territory,  member  of  one  or  the  other  house  of 
Congress,  or  minister  abroad ;  and  discharged  all  these  duties  to 
the  satisfaction  of  his  country.  This  case,  therefore,  stands  by 
itself ;  without  a  precedent  or  justification  from  any  thing  in  our 
previous  history.  It  is  for  this  reason,  as  I  imagine,  that  the 
Whigs  of  Massachusetts  feel  dissatisfied  with  this  nomination. 
There  may  be  other  reasons,  there  are  others ;  they  are,  perhaps, 
of  less  importance,  and  more  easily  to  be  answered.  But  this  is 
a  well-founded  objection ;  and  in  my  opinion  it  ought  to  have  pre 
vailed,  and  to  have  prevented  this  nomination.  I  know  enough 
of  history  to  see  the  dangerous  tendency  of  such  resorts  to 
military  popularity. 

But,  if  I  may  borrow  a  mercantile  expression,  I  may  now 
venture  to  say,  that  there  is  another  side  to  this  account.  The 
impartiality  with  which  I  propose  to  discharge  my  duty  to-day 
requires  that  it  should  be  stated.  And  in  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be 


ia6       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

considered,  that  General  Taylor  has  been  nominated  by  a  Whig 
convention,  held  in  conformity  with  the  usages  of  the  Whig 
party,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  fairly  nominated.  It  is  to  be  con 
sidered,  also,  that  he  is  the  only  Whig  before  the  people,  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency;  and  no  citizen  of  the  country, 
with  any  effect,  can  vote  for  any  other  Whig,  let  his  preferences 
be  what  they  might  or  may. 

In  the  next  place,  it  is  proper  to  consider  the  personal  char 
acter  of  General  Taylor,  and  his  political  opinions,  relations,  and 
connections,  so  far  as  they  are  known.  In  advancing  to  a  few 
observations  on  this  part  of  the  case,  I  wish  every  body  to  un 
derstand  that  I  have  no  personal  acquaintance  whatever  with 
General  Taylor.  I  never  saw  him  but  once,  and  that  but  for  a 
few  moments  in  the  Senate.  The  sources  of  information  are 
open  to  you,  as  well  as  to  me,  from  which  I  derive  what  I  know 
of  his  character  and  opinions.  But  I  have  endeavored  to  obtain 
access  to  those  sources.  I  have  endeavored  to  inform  and  in 
struct  myself  by  communication  with  those  who  have  known 
him  in  his  profession  as  a  soldier,  in  his  associations  as  a  man, 
in  his  conversations  and  opinions  on  political  subjects ;  and  I 
will  tell  you  frankly  what  I  think  of  him,  according  to  the  best 
lights  which  I  have  been  able  to  obtain. 

I  need  not  say,  that  he  is  a  skilful,  brave,  and  gallant  soldier. 
That  is  admitted  by  all.  With  me,  all  that  goes  but  very  little 
way  to  make  out  the  proper  qualifications  for  President  of  the 
United  States.  But  what  is  more  important,  I  believe  that  he 
is  an  entirely  honest  and  upright  man.  I  believe  that  he  is 
modest,  clear-headed,  of  independent  and  manly  character,  pos 
sessing  a  mind  trained  by  proper  discipline  and  self-control.  I 
believe  that  he  is  estimable  and  amiable  in  all  the  relations  of 
private  life.  I  believe  that  he  possesses  a  reputation  for  equity 
and  fan*  judgment,  which  gives  him  an  influence  over  those 
under  his  command,  beyond  what  is  conferred  by  the  authority 
of  station.  I  believe  that  he  is  a  man  possessing  the  confidence 
and  attachment  of  all  who  have  been  near  him  and  know  him. 
And  I  believe,  that,  if  elected  President,  he  will  do  his  best  to 
relieve  the  country  from  present  evils,  and  guard  it  against  future 
dangers.  So  much  for  what  1  think  of  the  personal  character 
of  General  Taylor. 

I  will  say,  too,  that,  so  far  as   I  have  observed,  his  conduct 


Speech  at  Marshfield  127 

since  he  has  been  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  President  has 
been  irreproachable.  I  hear  no  intrigue  imputed  to  him,  no  con 
tumelious  treatment  of  rivals.  I  do  not  find  him  making  prom 
ises  or  holding  out  hopes  to  any  men  or  any  party.  I  do  not 
find  him  putting  forth  any  pretensions  of  his  own,  and  therefore 
I  think  of  him  very  much  as  he  seems  to  think  of  himself,  that 
he  is  an  honest  man,  of  an  independent  mind  and  of  upright 
intentions.  And  as  for  the  subject  of  his  qualifications  for  the 
Presidency,  he  has  himself  nothing  to  say  about  it. 

And  now,  friends  and  fellow-townsmen,  with  respect  to  his 
political  opinions  and  relations,  I  can  say  at  once,  that  I  believe 
him  to  be  a  Whig ;  I  believe  him  to  hold  to  the  main  doctrines 
of  the  Whig  party.  To  think  otherwise  would  be  to  impute 
to  him  a  degree  of  tergiversation  and  fraudulent  deception,  of 
which  I  suppose  him  to  be  entirely  incapable. 

Gentlemen,  it  is  worth  our  while  to  consider  in  what  manner 
General  Taylor  has  become  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of 
the  United  States.  It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose 
that  he  was  made  such  merely  by  the  nomination  of  the  Phila 
delphia  Convention.  He  had  been  nominated* for  the  Presi 
dency  in  a  great  many  States,  by  various  conventions  and  meet 
ings  of  the  people,  a  year  before  the  convention  at  Philadel 
phia  assembled.  The  whole  history  of  the  world  shows,  whether 
in  the  most  civilized  or  the  most  barbarous  ages,  that  the  affec 
tions  and  admiration  of  mankind  are  at  all  times  easily  carried 
away  towards  successful  military  achievements.  The  story  of 
all  republics  and  of  all  free  governments  shows  this.  We  know 
in  the  case  now  before  us,  that  so  soon  as  brilliant  success  had 
attended  General  Taylor's  operations  on  the  Rio  Grande,  at 
Palo  Alto,  and  Monterey,  spontaneous  nominations  of  him 
sprang  up. 

And  here  let  me  say,  that,  generally,  these  were  Whig  nomi 
nations.  Not  universally,  but  generally,  these  nominations, 
made  at  various  times  before  the  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia 
Convention,  were  Whig  nominations.  General  Taylor  was 
esteemed,  from  the  moment  that  his  military  achievements 
brought  him  into  public  notice,  as  a  Whig  general.  You  all  re- 
member,  that  when  we  were  discussing  his  merits  in  Congress, 
upon  the  question  of  giving  thanks  to  the  army  under  his  com 
mand,  and  to  himself,  among  other  objections,  the  friends  and 


128       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

supporters  of  Mr.  Folk's  administration  denounced  him  as  being, 
and  because  he  was,  a  Whig  general.  My  friends  near  me, 
whom  I  am  happy  to  see  here,  belonging  to  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  will  remember  that  a  leading  man  of  the  party  of 
the  administration  declared  in  his  place  in  Congress,  that  the 
policy  of  the  administration,  connected  with  the  Mexican  war, 
would  never  prosper,  till  the  President  recalled  those  Whig  gen 
erals,  Scott  and  Taylor.  The  policy  was  a  Democratic  policy. 
The  argument  was,  that  the  men  +o  carry  out  this  policy  should 
be  Democratic  men.  The  officers  to  fight  the  battles  should  be 
Democratic  officers,  and  on  that  ground,  the  ordinary  vote  of 
thanks  was  refused  to  General  Taylor,  on  the  part  of  the  friends 
of  the  administration. 

Let  me  remark,  in  the  next  place,  that  there  was  no  particular 
purpose  connected  with  the  advancement  of  slavery  entertained, 
generally,  by  those  who  nominated  him.  As  I  have  said,  they 
were  Whig  nominations,  more  in  the  Middle  and  Northern  than 
in  the  Southern  States,  and  by  persons  who  never  entertained 
the  slightest  desire,  by  his  nomination,  or  by  any  other  means, 
to  extend  the  area  of  slavery  of  the  human  race,  or  the  influence 
of  the  slaveholding  States  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  The 
Quaker  city  of  Philadelphia  nominated  General  Taylor,  the 
Whigs  all  over  the  Union  nominated  him,  with  no  such  view. 
A  great  convention  was  assembled  in  New  York,  of  highly  in 
fluential  and  respectable  gentlemen,  very  many  of  them  well 
known  to  me,  and  they  nominated  General  Taylor  with  no  such 
view.  General  Taylor's  nomination  was  hailed,  not  very  ex 
tensively,  but  by  some  enthusiastic  and  not  very  far-seeing  peo 
ple  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  There  were,  even 
among  us,  in  our  own  State,  Whigs  quite  early  enough,  cer 
tainly,  in  manifesting  their  confidence  in  this  nomination;  a 
little  too  early,  it  may  be,  in  uttering  notes  of  exultation  for  the 
anticipated  triumph.  It  would  have  been  better  if  they  had 
waited. 

Now  the  truth  is,  Gentlemen,  —  and  no  man  can  avoid  seeing 
it.  unless,  as  sometimes  happens,  the  object  is  too  near  our  eyes  to 
be  distinctly  discerned,  —  the  truth  is,  that  in  these  nominations, 
and  also  in  the  nomination  at  Philadelphia,  in  these  conventions, 
and  also  in  the  convention  at  Philadelphia,  General  Taylor  was 
nominated  exactly  for  this  reason ;  —  that,  believing  him  to  be  a 


Speech  at  Marshfield  129 

Whig,  they  thought  he  could  be  chosen  more  easily  than  any 
other  Whig.  This  is  the  whole  of  it.  That  sagacious,  wise,  far- 
seeing  doctrine  of  availability  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole 
matter.  So  far,  then,  from  imputing  any  motive  to  these  con 
ventions  over  the  country,  or  to  the  convention  in  Philadelphia, 
as  operating  on  a  majority  of  the  members,  to  promote  slavery 
by  the  nomination  of  General  Taylor,  I  do  not  believe  a  word 
of  it,  —  not  one  word.  I  see  that  one  part  of  what  is  called  the 
Platform  of  the  Buffalo  Convention  says  that  the  candidates  be 
fore  the  public  were  nominated  under  the  dictation  of  the  slave 
power.  I  do  not  believe  a  word  of  it. 

In  the  first  place,  a  very  great  majority  of  the  convention  at 
Philadelphia  was  composed  of  members  from  the  Free  States. 
By  a  very  great  majority  they  might  have  nominated  any  body 
they  chose.  But  the  Free  States  did  not  choose  to  nominate 
a  Free  State  man,  or  a  Northern  man.  Even  our  neighbors, 
the  States  of  New  England,  with  the  exception  of  New  Hamp 
shire  and  a  part  of  Maine,  neither  proposed  nor  concurred  in 
the  nomination  of  any  Northern  man.  Vermont  would  hear 
of  nothing  but  the  nomination  of  a  Southern  and  slaveholding 
candidate.  Connecticut  was  of  the  same  mind,  and  so  was 
Rhode  Island.  The  North  made  no  demand,  nor  presented  any 
request  for  a  Northern  candidate,  nor  attempted  any  union 
among  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  nomination 
of  such  a  candidate.  They  were  content  to  take  their  choice 
among  the  candidates  of  the  South.  It  is  preposterous,  there 
fore,  to  pretend  that  a  candidate  from  the  Slave  States  has  been 
forced  upon  the  North  by  Southern  dictation. 

In  the  next  place,  it  is  true  that  there  were  persons  from  New 
England  who  were  extremely  zealous  and  active  in  procuring 
the  nomination  of  General  Taylor,  but  they  were  men  who 
would  cut  off  their  right  hands  before  they  would  do  any  thing 
to  promote  slavery  in  the  United  States.  I  do  not  admire  their 
policy,  indeed  I  have  very  little  respect  for  it,  understand  that ; 
but  I  acquit  them  of  bad  motives.  I  know  the  leading  men  in 
that  convention.  I  think  I  understand  the  motives  that  governed 
them.  Their  reasoning  was  this  :  "  General  Taylor  is  a  Whig ; 
not  eminent  in  civil  life,  not  known  in  civil  life,  but  still  a  man 
of  sound  Whig  principles.  Circumstances  have  given  him  a 
reputation  and  eclat  in  the  country.  If  he  shall  be  the  Whig 

VOL.  IV.  —  9 


130      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

candidate,  he  will  be  chosen;  and  with  him  there  will  come 
into  the  two  houses  of  Congress  an  augmentation  of  Whig 
strength.  The  Whig  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
will  be  increased.  The  Democratic  majority  in  the  Senate  will 
be  diminished.  That  was  the  view,  and  such  was  the  motive, 
however  wise  or  however  unwise,  that  governed  a  very  large 
majority  of  those  who  composed  the  Convention  at  Philadel 
phia.  In  my  opinion,  this  was  a  wholly  unwise  policy ;  it  was 
short-sighted  and  temporizing  on  questions  of  great  principles. 
But  I  acquit  those  who  adopted  it  of  any  such  motives  as  have 
been  ascribed  to  them,  and  especially  of  what  has  been  ascribed 
to  them  in  a  part  of  this  Buffalo  Platform. 

Such,  Gentlemen,  are  the  circumstances  connected  with  the 
nomination  of  General  Taylor.  I  only  repeat,  that  those  who 
had  the  greatest  agency  originally  in  bringing  him  before  the 
people  were  Whig  conventions  and  Whig  meetings  in  the  sev 
eral  States,  Free  States,  and  that  a  great  majority  of  that  con 
vention  which  nominated  him  in  Philadelphia  was  from  the 
Free  States,  and  might  have  rejected  him  if  they  had  chosen, 
and  selected  any  body  else  on  whom  they  could  have  united. 

This  is  the  case,  Gentlemen,  as  far  as  I  can  discern  it,  and 
exercising  upon  it  as  impartial  a  judgment  as  I  can  form, — this 
is  the  case  presented  to  the  Whigs,  so  far  as  respects  the  personal 
fitness  and  personal  character  of  General  Taylor,  and  the  cir 
cumstances  which  have  caused  his  nomination.  If  we  were 
weighing  the  propriety  of  nominating  such  a  person  to  the  Pres 
idency,  it  would  be  one  thing ;  if  we  are  considering  the  expe 
diency,  or  I  may  say  the  necessity  (which  to  some  minds  may 
seem  to  be  the  case),  of  well-meaning  and  patriotic  Whigs  sup 
porting  him  after  he  is  nominated,  that  is  quite  another  thing. 

This  leads  us  to  the  consideration  of  what  the  Whigs  of  Mas 
sachusetts  are  to  do,  or  such  of  them  as  do  not  see  fit  to  sup 
port  General  Taylor.  Of  course  they  must  vote  for  General 
Cass,  or  they  must  vote  for  Mr.  Van  Buren,  or  they  must  omit 
to  vote  at  all.  I  agree  that  there  are  cases  in  which,  if  we  do 
not  know  in  what  direction  to  move,  we  ought  to  stand  still  till 
we  do.  I  admit  that  there  are  cases  in  which,  if  one  does  not 
know  what  to  do,  he  had  better  not  do  he  knows  not  what. 
But  on  a  question  so  important  to  ourselves  and  the  country,  on 
a  question  of  a  popular  election  under  constitutional  forms,  in 


Speech  at  Marshfield  131 


which  it  is  impossible  that  every  man's  private  judgment  can 
prevail,  or  every  man's  private  choice  succeed,  it  becomes  a 
question  of  conscientious  duty  aad  patriotism,  what  it  is  best  to 
do  upon  the  whole. 

Under  the  practical  administration  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  there  cannot  be  a  great  range  of  personal  choice 
in  regard  to  the  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  In  order  that 
their  votes  may  be  effective,  men  must  give  them  for  some  one 
of  those  who  are  prominently  before  the  public.  This  is  the  ne 
cessary  result  of  our  forms  of  government  and  of  the  provisions 
of  the  Constitution.  The  people  are  therefore  brought  some 
times  to  the  necessity  of  choosing  between  candidates,  neither 
of  whom  would  be  their  original,  personal  choice. 

Now,  what  is  the  contingency  ?  What  is  the  alternative  pre 
sented  to  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts  ?  In  my  judgment,  fel 
low-citizens,  it  is  simply  this ;  the  question  is  between  General 
Taylor  and  General  Cass.  And  that  is  the  only  question.  I 
am  no  more  skilled  to  foresee  political  occurrences  than  others. 
I  judge  only  for  myself.  But,  in  my  opinion,  there  is  not  the 
least  probability  of  any  other  result  than  the  choice  of  General 
Taylor  or  General  Cass.  I  know  that  the  enthusiasm  of  a  new- 
formed  party,  that  the  popularity  of  a  new-formed  name,  with 
out  communicating  any  new-formed  idea,  may  lead  men  to 
think  that  the  sky  is  to  fall,  and  that  larks  are  suddenly  to  be 
taken.  I  entertain  no  such  expectations.  I  speak  without  dis 
respect  of  the  Free  Soil  party.  I  have  read  their  platform,  and 
though  I  think  there  are  some  unsound  places  in  it,  I  can  stand 
on  it  pretty  well.  But  I  see  nothing  in  it  both  new  and  valua 
ble.  "  What  is  valuable  is  not  new,  and  what  is  new  is  not  val 
uable."  If  the  term  Free  Soil  party,  or  Free  Soil  men,  desig 
nate  those  who  are  fixed,  and  unalterably  fixed,  in  favor  of  the 
restriction  of  slavery,  are  so  to-day  and  were  so  yesterday,  and 
have  been  so  for  some  time,  then  I  hold  myself  to  be  as  good  a 
Free  Soil  man  as  any  of  the  Buffalo  Convention.  I  pray  to 
know  who  is  to  put  beneath  my  feet  a  freer  soil  than  that  upon 
which  I  have  stood  ever  since  I  have  been  in  public  life  ?  I 
pray  to  know  who  is  to  make  my  lips  freer  than  they  always 
have  been,  or  to  inspire  into  my  breast  a  more  resolute  and  fixed 
determination  to  resist  the  advances  and  encroachments  of  the 
slave  power,  than  has  inhabited  it  since  I  for  the  first  time 


132       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

opened  my  mouth  in  the  councils  of  the  country  ?  The  gen 
tlemen  at  Buffalo  have  placed  at  the  head  of  their  party  Mr, 
Van  Buren,  a  gentleman  for  whom  I  have  all  the  respect  that 
I  ought  to  entertain  for  one  with  whom  I  have  been  associ 
ated,  in  some  degree,  in  public  life  for  many  years,  and  who 
has  held  the  highest  offices  in  the  country.  But  really,  speak 
ing  for  myself,  if  I  were  to  express  confidence  in  Mr.  Van  Bu 
ren  and  his  politics  on  any  question,  and  most  especially  this 
very  question  of  slavery,  I  think  the  scene  would  border  upon 
the  ludicrous,  if  not  upon  the  contemptible.  I  never  proposed 
any  thing  in  my  life  of  a  general  and  public  nature,  that  Mr. 
Van  Buren  did  not  oppose.  Nor  has  it  happened  to  me  to 
support  any  important  measure  proposed  by  him.  If  he  and  I 
now  were  to  find  ourselves  together  under  the  Free  Soil  flag,  I 
am  sure  that,  with  his  accustomed  good  nature,  he  would  laugh. 
If  nobody  were  present,  we  should  both  laugh  at  the  strange 
occurrences  and  stranger  jumbles  of  political  life  that  should 
have  brought  us  to  sit  down  cosily  and  snugly,  side  by  side,  on 
the  same  platform.  That  the  leader  of  the  Free  Spoil  party 
should  so  suddenly  have  become  the  leader  of  the  Free  Soil 
party  would  be  a  joke  to  shake  his  sides  and  mine. 

Gentlemen,  my  first  acquaintance  in  public  life  with  Mr.  Van 
Buren  was  when  he  was  pressing  with  great  power  the  election 
of  Mr.  Crawford  to  the  Presidency,  against  Mr.  Adams.  Mr. 
Crawford  was  not  elected,  and  Mr.  Adams  was.  Mr.  Van  Bu 
ren  was  in  the  Senate  nearly  the  whole  of  that  administration ; 
and  during  the  remainder  of  it  he  was  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  It  is  notorious  that  he  was  the  soul  and  centre, 
throughout  the  whole  of  Mr.  Adams's  term,  of  the  opposition 
made  to  him.  He  did  more  to  prevent  Mr.  Adams's  reelection 
in  1828,  and  to  obtain  General  Jackson's  election,  than  any 
other  man,  —  yes,  than  any  ten  other  men  in  the  country. 

General  Jackson  was  chosen,  and  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  appoint 
ed  his  Secretary  of  State.  It  so  happened  that  in  July,  1829,  Mr. 
Me  Lane  went  to  England  to  arrange  the  controverted,  difficult, 
and  disputed  point  on  the  subject  of  the  colonial  trade.  Mr. 
Adams  had  held  a  high  tone  on  that  subject.  He  had  demand 
ed,  on  the  ground  of  reciprocity  and  right,  the  introduction  of 
our  products  into  all  parts  of  the  British  territory,  freely,  in  our 
own  vessels,  since  Great  Britain  was  allowed  to  bring  her  prod- 


Speech  at  Marshfield  133 

uce  into  the  United  States  upon  the  same  terms.  Mr.  Adams 
placed  this  demand  upon  the  ground  of  reciprocity  and  justice. 
Great  Britain  would  not  yield.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  in  his  instruc 
tions  to  Mr.  McLane,  told  him  to  yield  that  question  of  right, 
and  to  solicit  the  free  admission  of  American  produce  into  the 
British  colonies,  on  the  ground  of  privilege  and  favor;  intimat 
ing  that  there  had  been  a  change  of  parties,  and  that  this  favor 
ought  not  to  be  refused  to  General  Jackson's  administration 
because  it  had  been  demanded  on  the  ground  of  right  by 
Mr.  Adams's.  This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  instruc 
tion. 

Well,  Gentlemen,  it  was  one  of  the  most  painful  duties  of 
my  life,  on  account  of  this,  to  refuse  my  assent  to  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren's  nomination.  It  was  novel  in  our  history,  when  an  admin 
istration  changes,  for  the  new  administration  to  seek  to  obtain 
privileges  from  a  foreign  power  on  the  assertion  that  they  have 
abandoned  the  ground  of  their  predecessors.  I  suppose  that 
such  a  course  is  held  to  be  altogether  undignified  by  all  public 
men.  When  I  went  into  the  Department  of  State  under  Gen 
eral  Harrison,  I  found  in  the  conduct  of  my  predecessor  many 
things  that  I  could  have  wished  had  been  otherwise.  Did  I  re 
tract  a  jot  or  tittle  of  what  Mr.  Forsyth  had  said  ?  I  took  the 
case  as  he  had  left  it,  and  conducted  it  upon  the  principles 
which  he  left.  I  should  have  considered  that  I  disgraced  myself 
if  I  had  said,  "  Pray,  my  Lord  Ashburton,  we  are  more  rational 
persons  than  our  predecessors,  we  are  more  considerate  than 
they,  and  intend  to  adopt  an  entirely  opposite  policy.  Consider, 
my  dear  Lord,  how  much  more  friendly,  reasonable,  and  amiable 
we  are  than  our  predecessors." 

But  now,  on  this  very  subject  of  the  extension  of  the  slave 
power,  I  would  by  no  means  do  the  least  injustice  to  Mr.  Van 
Buren.  If  he  has  come  up  to  some  of  the  opinions  expressed 
in  the  platform  of  the  Buffalo  Convention,  I  am  very  glad  of  it 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  may  not  be  very  good  reasons 
for  those  of  his  own  party  who  cannot  conscientiously  vote  for 
General  Cass  to  vote  for  him,  because  I  think  him  much  the 
least  dangerous  of  the  two.  But,  in  truth,  looking  at  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  conduct  as  President  of  the  United  States,  I  am 
amazed  to  find  that  he  should  be  placed  at  the  head  of  a  party 
professing  to  be,  beyond  all  other  parties,  friends  of  liberty  and 


134      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

enemies  of  African  slavery  in  the  Southern  States.  Why,  the 
very  first  thing  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  did  after  he  was  President 
was  to  declare,  that,  if  Congress  interfered  with  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  he  would  apply  the  veto  to  their  bills. 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  in  his  inaugural  address,  quotes  the  following 
expression  from  his  letter  accepting  his  nomination :  "  I  must 
go  into  the  Presidential  chair  the  inflexible  and  uncompromising 
opponent  of  every  attempt  on  the  part  of  Congress  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  against  the  wishes  of  the 
slaveholding  States ;  and  also  with  a  determination  equally  de 
cided  to  resist  the  slightest  interference  with  it  in  the  States 
where  it  exists."  He  then  proceeds :  "  I  submitted  also  to  my 
fellow-citizens,  with  fulness  and  frankness,  the  reasons  which  led 
me  to  this  determination.  The  result  authorizes  me  to  believe 
that  they  have  been  approved  and  are  confided  in  by  a  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  including  those  whom  they 
most  immediately  affect.  It  now  only  remains  to  add,  that  no 
bill  conflicting  with  these  views  can  ever  receive  my  constitu 
tional  sanction." 

In  the  next  place,  we  know  that  Mr.  Van  Buren's  casting 
vote  was  given  for  a  law  of  very  doubtful  propriety,  —  a  law  to 
allow  postmasters  to  open  the  mails  and  see  if  there  was  any 
incendiary  matter  in  them,  and  if  so,  to  destroy  it.  I  do  not 
say  that  there  was  no  constitutional  power  to  pass  such  a  law. 
Perhaps  the  people  of  the  South  thought  it  was  necessary  to 
protect  themselves  from  incitements  to  insurrection.  So  far  as 
any  thing  endangers  the  lives  and  property  of  the  South,  so  far 
I  agree  that  there  may  be  such  legislation  in  Congress  as  shall 
prevent  such  results. 

But,  Gentlemen,  no  man  has  exercised  a  more  controlling  in 
fluence  on  the  conduct  of  his  friends  in  this  country  than  Mr. 
Van  Buren.  I  take  it  that  the  most  important  event  in  our 
time  tending  to  the  extension  of  slavery  and  its  everlasting  es 
tablishment  on  this  continent,  was  the  annexation  of  Texas,  in 
1844.  Where  was  Mr.  Van  Buren  then  ?  Let  me  ask,  Three 
or  four  years  ago,  where  was  he  THEN  ?  Every  friend  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  so  far  as  I  know,  supported  the  measure.  The  two 
Senators  from  New  York  supported  it,  and  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  from  New  York  supported  it,  and  no 
body  resisted  it  but  Whigs.  And  I  say  in  the  face  ol  the  world, 


Speech  at  Marshfield  135 

I  say  in  the  face  of  those  connected  with,  or  likely  to  be  bene 
fited  by,  the  Buffalo  Convention,  I  say  to  all  of  them,  that  there 
has  been  no  party  of  men  in  this  country  which  has  firmly  and 
sternly  resisted  the  progress  of  the  slave  power  but  the  Whigs. 

Why,  look  to  this  very  question  of  the  annexation  of  Texas. 
We  talk  of  the  dictation  of  the  slave  power !  At  least  they  do, 
I  do  not.  I  do  not  allow  that  any  body  dictates  to  me.  They 
talk  of  the  triumph  of  the  South  over  the  North  !  There  is  not 
a  word  of  truth  or  reason  in  the  whole  of  it.  I  am  bound  to  say 
on  my  conscience,  that,  of  all  the  evils  inflicted  upon  us  by  these 
acquisitions  of  slave  territory,  the  North  has  borne  its  full  part  in 
the  infliction.  Northern  votes,  in  full  proportion,  have  been  giv 
en  in  both  houses  for  the  acquisition  of  new  territory,  in  which 
slavery  existed.  We  talk  of  the  North.  There  has  for  a  long 
time  been  no  North.  I  think  the  North  Star  is  at  last  discovered ; 
I  think  there  will  be  a  North ;  but  up  to  the  recent  session  of 
Congress  there  has  been  no  North,  no  geographical  section  of 
the  country,  in  which  there  has  been  found  a  strong,  conscien 
tious,  and  united  opposition  to  slavery.  No  such  North  has 
existed. 

Pope  says,  you  know, 

"  Ask  where  's  the  North?     At  York,  't  is  on  the  Tweed  ; 
In  Scotland,  at  the  Orcades  ;  and  there, 
At  Greenland,  Zembla,  or  the  Lord  knows  where." 

Now,  if  there  has  heretofore  been  such  a  North  as  I  have  de 
scribed,  a  North  strong  in  opinion  and  united  in  action  against 
slavery,  —  if  such  a  North  has  existed  anywhere,  it  has  existed 
"  the  Lord  knows  where,"  I  do  not.  Why,  on  this  very  question 
of  the  admission  of  Texas,  it  may  be  said  with  truth,  that  the 
North  let  in  Texas.  The  Whigs,  North  and  South,  resisted 
Texas.  Ten  Senators  from  slaveholding  States,  of  the  Whig 
party,  resisted  Texas.  Two,  only,  as  I  remember,  voted  for  it. 
But  the  Southern  Whig  votes  against  Texas  were  overpowered 
by  the  Democratic  votes  from  the  free  States,  and  from  New 
England  among  the  rest.  Yes,  if  there  had  not  been  votes  from 
New  England  in  favor  of  Texas,  Texas  would  have  been  out 
of  the  Union  to  this  day.  Yes,  if  men  from  New  England  had 
been  true,  Texas  would  have  been  nothing  but  Texas  still. 
There  were  four  votes  in  the  Senate  from  New  England,  in  fa 
vor  of  the  admission  of  Texas,  Mr.  Van  Buren's  friends  Dem- 


136       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

ocratic  members:  one  from  Maine;  two  from  New  Hampshire, 
one  from  Connecticut.  Two  of  these  gentlemen  were  confiden 
tial  friends  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  had  both  been  members  of 
his  cabinet.  They  voted  for  Texas ;  and  they  let  in  Texas, 
against  Southern  Whigs  and  Northern  Whigs.  That  is  the 
truth  of  it,  my  friends.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  by  the  wave  of  his 
hand,  could  have  kept  out  Texas.  A  word,  a  letter,  though  it 
had  been  even  shorter  than  General  Cass's  letter  to  the  Chicago 
Convention,  would  have  been  enough,  and  would  have  done  the 
work.  But  he  was  silent. 

When  Northern  members  of  Congress  voted,  in  1820,  for  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  against  the  known  will  of  their  constitu 
ents,  they  were  called  "  Dough  Faces."  I  am  afraid,  fellow- 
citizens,  that  the  generation  of  "  dough  faces  "  will  be  as  perpet 
ual  as  the  generation  of  men. 

In  1844,  as  we  all  know,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  a  candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  on  the  part  of  the  Democratic  party,  but  lost  the 
nomination  at  Baltimore.  We  now  learn,  from  a  letter  from 
General  Jackson  to  Mr.  Butler,  that  Mr.  Van  Buren's  claims 
were  superseded,  because,  after  all,  the  South  thought  that  the 
accomplishment  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  might  be  more 
safely  intrusted  to  Southern  hands.  We  all  know  that  the 
Northern  portion  of  the  Democratic  party  were  friendly  to  Mr. 
Van  Buren.  Our  neighbors  from  New  Hampshire,  and  Maine, 
and  elsewhere,  were  Van  Buren  men.  But  the  moment  it  was 
ascertained  that  Mr.  Polk  was  the  favorite  of  the  South,  and  the 
favorite  of  the  South  upon  the  ground  I  have  mentioned,  as  a 
man  more  certain  to  bring  about  the  annexation  of  Texas  than 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  these  friends  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  in  the  North 
all  "  caved  in,"  not  a  man  of  them  stood.  Mr.  Van  Buren  him 
self  wrote  a  letter  very  complimentary  to  Mr.  Polk  and  Mr.  Dal 
las,  and  found  no  fault  with  the  nomination. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  if  they  were  "  dough  faces  "  who  voted  for 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  what  epithet  should  describe  these 
men,  here  in  our  New  England,  who  were  so  ready,  not  only 
to  change  or  abandon  him  whom  they  most  cordially  wished  to 
support,  but  did  so  in  order  to  make  more  sure  the  annexation 
of  Texas.  They  nominated  Mr.  Polk  at  the  request  of  gentle 
men  from  the  South,  and  voted  for  him,  through  thick  and  thin, 
till  the  work  was  accomplished,  and  Mr.  Polk  elected.  For  my 


Speech  at  Marshfield  137 

part,  I  think  that  "  dough  faces "  is  an  epithet  not  sufficiently 
reproachful.  Such  persons  are  dough  faces,  with  dough  heads, 
and  dough  hearts,  and  dough  souls ;  they  are  all  dough  ;  the 
coarsest  potter  may  mould  them  to  vessels  of  honor  or  dishonor, 
—  most  readily  to  vessels  of  dishonor. 

But  what  do  we  now  see  ?  Repentance  has  gone  far.  There 
are  among  these  very  people,  these  very  gentlemen,  persons  who 
espouse,  with  great  zeal,  the  interests  of  the  Free  Soil  party.  I 
hope  then:  repentance  is  as  sincere  as  it  appears  to  be.  I  hope 
it  is  honest  conviction,  and  not  merely  a  new  chance  for  power, 
under  a  new  name  and  a  new  party.  But,  with  all  their  pre 
tensions,  and  with  all  their  patriotism,  I  see  dough  still  sticking 
on  the  cheeks  of  some  of  them.  And  therefore  I  have  no  confi 
dence  in  them,  not  a  particle.  I  do  not  mean  to  say,  that  the 
great  mass  of  the  people,  especially  those  who  went  to  the  Buf 
falo  Convention  from  this  State,  have  not  the  highest  and  purest 
motives.  I  think  they  act  unwisely,  but  I  acquit  them  of  dishon 
est  intentions.  But  with  respect  to  others,  and  those  who  have 
been  part  and  parcel  in  the  measures  which  have  brought  new 
slave  territory  into  this  Union,  t  distrust  them  all.  If  they  repent, 
let  them,  before  we  trust  them,  do  works  worthy  of  repentance. 

I  have  said,  Gentlemen,  that  in  my  opinion,  if  it  were  desira 
ble  to  place  Mr.  Van  Buren  at  the  head  of  government,  there  is 
no  chance  for  him.  Others  are  as  good  judges  as  I  am.  But  I 
am  not  able  to  say  that  I  see  any  State  in  the  Union  in  which 
there  is  a  reasonable  probability  that  he  will  get  the  vote. 
There  may  be.  Others  are  more  versed  in  such  statistics  than  I 
am.  But  I  see  none,  and  therefore  I  think  that  we  are  reduced 
to  a  choice  between  General  Cass  and  General  Taylor.  You 
may  remember,  that  in  the  discussions  of  1844,  when  Mr.  Bir- 
ney  was  drawing  off  votes  from  the  Whig  candidate,  I  said  that 
every  vote  for  Mr.  Birney  was  half  a  vote  for  Mr.  Polk.  Is  it  not 
true  that  the  vote  of  the  Liberty  party  taken  from  Mr.  Clay's 
vote  in  the  State  of  New  York  made  Mr.  Polk  President? 
That  is  as  clear  as  any  historical  fact.  And  in  my  judgment,  it 
will  be  so  now.  I  consider  every  Whig  vote  given  to  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  as  directly  aiding  the  election  of  Mr.  Cass.  Mark,  I 
say,  Whig  vote.  There  may  be  States  in  which  Mr.  Van  Buren 
may  draw  from  the  other  side  largely.  But  I  speak  of  Whig 
votes,  in  this  State  and  in  any  State.  And  I  am  of  opinion, 


138       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

that  any  such  vote  given  to  Mr.  Van  Buren  inures  to  the  ben 
efit  of  General  Cass. 

Now  as  to  General  Cass,  Gentlemen.  We  need  not  go  to 
the  Baltimore  platform  to  instruct  ourselves  as  to  what  his  poli 
tics  are,  or  how  he  will  conduct  the  government.  General  Cass 
will  go  into  the  government,  if  at  all,  chosen  by  the  same  party 
that  elected  Mr.  Polk ;  and  he  will  "  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
his  illustrious  predecessor."  I  hold  him,  I  confess,  in  the  present 
state  of  the  country,  to  be  the  most  dangerous  man  on  whom 
the  powers  of  the  executive  chief  magistracy  could  well  be  con 
ferred.  He  would  consider  himself,  not  as  conservative,  not  as 
protective  to  present  institutions,  but  as  belonging  to  the  party 
of  Progress.  He  believes  in  the  doctrine  of  American  destiny ; 
and  that  that  destiny  is,  to  go  through  wars,  and  invasions,  and 
maintain  vast  armies,  to  establish  a  great,  powerful,  domineer 
ing  government  over  all  this  continent.  We  know  that,  if  Mr. 
Cass  could  have  prevented  it,  the  treaty  with  England  in  1842 
would  not  have  been  made.  We  know  that,  if  Mr.  Cass  could 
have  prevented  it,  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question  would 
not  have  been  accomplished  in  1846.  We  know  that  General 
Cass  could  have  prevented  the  Mexican  war ;  and  we  know  that 
he  was  first  and  foremost  in  pressing  that  war.  We  know  that 
he  is  a  man  of  talent,  of  ability,  of  some  celebrity  as  a  states 
man,  in  every  way  superior  to  his  predecessor,  if  he  should  be 
the  successor  of  Mr.  Polk.  But  I  think  him  a  man  of  rash 
politics,  pushed  on  by  a  rash  party,  and  committed  to  a  course 
of  policy,  as  I  believe,  not  in  consistency  with  the  happiness 
and  security  of  the  country.  Therefore  it  is  for  you,  and  for 
me,  and  for  all  of  us,  Whigs,  to  consider  whether,  in  this  state 
of  the  case,  we  can  or  cannot,  we  will  or  will  not,  give  our 
votes  for  the  Whig  nomination.  I  leave  that  to  every  man's 
conscience.  I  have  endeavored  to  state  the  case  as  it  presents 
itself  to  me. 

Gentlemen,  before  General  Taylor's  nomination,  I  stated 
always,  when  the  subject  was  mentioned  by  my  friends,  that  I 
did  not  and  could  not  recommend  the  nomination  of  a  military 
man  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  for  the  office  of  Presi 
dent.  It  was  against  my  conviction  of  what  was  due  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  country,  and  to  the  character  of  the  repub 
lic.  I  stated  always,  at  the  same  time,  that  if  General  Taylor 


Speech  at  Marshfield  139 

should  be  nominated  by  the  Whig  convention,  fairly,  I  should 
not  oppose  his  election.  I  stand  now  upon  the  same  declara 
tion.  General  Taylor  has  been  nominated  fairly,  as  far  as  1 
know,  and  I  cannot,  therefore,  and  shall  not,  oppose  his  election. 
At  the  same  time,  there  is  no  man  who  is  more  firmly  of  opin 
ion  that  such  a  nomination  was  not  fit  to  be  made.  But  the 
declaration  that  I  would  not  oppose  General  Taylor,  if  nomi 
nated  by  the  Whig  party,  was  of  course  subject,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  to  some  exceptions.  If  I  believed  him  to  be  a  man 
who  would  plunge  the  country  into  further  wars  for  any  purpose 
of  ambition  or  conquest,  I  would  oppose  him,  let  him  be  nomi 
nated  by  whom  he  might  If  I  believed  that  he  was  a  man  who 
would  exert  his  official  influence  for  the  further  extension  of 
the  slave  power,  I  would  oppose  him,  let  him  be  nominated  by 
whom  he  might.  But  I  do  not  believe  either.  I  believe  that  he 
has  been,  from  the  first,  opposed  to  the  policy  of  the  Mexican 
war,  as  improper,  impolitic,  and  inexpedient  I  believe,  from  the 
best  information  I  can  obtain,  —  and  you  will  take  this  as  my 
own  opinion,  Gentlemen,  —  I  believe,  from  the  best  information 
I  can  obtain,  that  he  has  no  disposition  to  go  to  war,  or  to  form 
new  States  in  order  to  increase  the  limits  of  slavery. 

Gentlemen,  so  much  for  what  may  be  considered  as  belonging 
to  the  Presidency  as  a  national  question.  But  the  case  by  no 
means  stops  here.  We  are  citizens  of  Massachusetts.  We  are 
Whigs  of  Massachusetts.  We  have  supported  the  present  gov 
ernment  of  the  State  for  years,  with  success ;  and  I  have  thought 
that  most  Whigs  were  satisfied  with  the  administration  of  the 
State  government  in  the  hands  of  those  who  have  had  it.  But 
now  it  is  proposed,  I  presume,  on  the  basis  of  the  Buffalo  plat 
form,  to  carry  this  into  the  State  elections,  as  well  as  into  the 
national  elections.  There  is  to  be  a  nomination  of  a  candidate 
for  Governor,  against  Mr.  Briggs,  or  whoever  may  be  nominated 
by  the  Whigs ;  and  there  is  to  be  a  nomination  of  a  candidate 
for  Lieutenant- Govern  or,  against  Mr.  Reed,  or  whoever  may  be 
nominated  by  the  Whigs;  and  there  are  to  be  nominations 
against  the  present  members  of  Congress.  Now,  what  is  the 
utility  or  the  necessity  of  this  ?  We  have  ten  members  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States.  I  know  not  ten  men  of  any 
party  who  are  more  zealous,  and  firm,  and  inflexible  in  their  op 
position  against  slavery  in  any  form. 

what  will   be  the  result  of  opposing  their  reelection  ? 


140       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Suppose  that  a  consider;! I >lr  number  of  Whigs  secede  from  the 
Whig  party,  and  support  a  candidate  of  this  new  party,  what 
will  be  the  result?  Do  we  not  know  what  has  been  the  ease  in 
this  State?  .Do  we  not  know  that  thia  district  lias  been  unrep 
resented  from  month  to  month,  and  from  year  to  year,  because 
there  has  been  an  opposition  to  as  good  an  antislavery  man  as 
breathes  the  air  of  this  district?  On  this  occasion,  and  even  in 
his  own  presence,  I  may  allude  to  our  Representative,  Mr.  Hale. 
Do  we  want  a  man  to  give  a  better  vote  in  Congress  than  Mr. 
Hale  gives  ?  Why,  I  undertake  to  say  that  there  is  not  one  of 
the  Liberty  party,  nor  will  there  be  one  of  this  new  party,  who 
will  have  the  least  objection  to  Mr.  Hale,  except  that  he  was  not 
nominated  by  themselves.  Ten  to  one,  if  the  Whigs  had  not 
nominated  him,  they  would  have  nominated  him  themselves ; 
doubtless  they  would,  if  he  had  come  into  their  organization, 
and  called  himself  a  third  party  man. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  I  remember  it  to  have  occurred,  that,  on 
very  important  questions  in  Congress,  the  vote  was  lost  for  want 
of  two  or  three  members  which  Massachusetts  might  have  sent, 
but  which,  in  consequence  of  the  division  of  parties,  she  did  not 
send.  And  now  1  foresee  that,  if  in  this  district  any  consider 
able  number  of  Whigs  think  it  their  duty  to  join  in  the  support 
of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  in  the  support  of  gentlemen  whom  that 
party  may  nominate  for  Congress,  the  same  thing  will  take 
place,  and  we  shall  be  without  a  representative,  in  all  proba 
bility,  in  the  first  session  of  the  next  Congress,  when  the  battle 
is  to  be  fought  on  this  very  slavery  question.  The  same  is 
likely  to  happen  in  other  districts.  1  am  sure  that  honest,  intel 
ligent  and  patriotic,  Whigs  will  lay  this  consideration  to  their 
consciences,  and  judge  of  it  as  they  think  they  ought  to  do. 

Gentlemen,  1  will  detain  you  but  a  moment  longer.  You 
know  that  I  gave  my  vote  in  Congress  against  the  treaty  of 
peace  with  Mexico,  because  it  contained  these  cessions  of  terri 
tory,  and  brought  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  with 
a  pledge  of  future  admission  into  the  Union,  the  great,  vast,  and 
almost  unknown  countries  of  New  Mexico  and  California. 

In  the  session  before  the  last,  one  of  the  Southern  Whig  Sen 
ators,  Mr.  Berrien  of  Georgia,  had  moved  a  resolution,  to  the 
effect  that  the  war  ought  not  to  be  continued  for  the  purposes  of 
conquest  and  acquisition.  The  resolution  declared  that  the  war 
with  Mexico  ought  not  to  be  prosecuted  by  this  government 


Speech  at  Marshfield  141 

with  any  view  to  the  dismemberment  of  that  republic,  or  to  the 
acquisition,  by  conquest,  of  any  portion  of  her  territory.  That 
proposition  he  introduced  into  the  Senate,  in  the  form  of  a  reso 
lution;  and  1  believe  that  every  Whig  Senator  but  one  voted 
for  it.  But  the  Senators  belonging  to  the  Locofoco  or  Dem 
ocratic  party  voted  against  it.  The  Senators  from  New  York 
voted  against  it.  General  Cass,  from  the  free  State  of  Mich 
igan,  Mr.  Fairfield,  from  Maine,  Mr.  Niles,  from  Connecticut, 
and  others,  voted  against  it,  and  the  vote  was  lost.  That  is, 
these  gentlemen,  —  some  of  them  very  prominent  friends  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  and  ready  to  take  the  field  for  him,  —  these  very 
gentlemen  voted  not  to  exclude  territory  that  might  be  obtained 
by  conquest.  They  were  willing  to  bring  in  the  territory,  and 
then  have  a  squabble  and  controversy  whether  it  should  be  slave 
or  free  territory.  I  was  of  opinion  that  the  true  and  safe  policy 
was,  to  shut  out  the  whole  question  by  getting  no  territory,  and 
thereby  keep  off  all  controversy.  The  territory  will  do  us  no 
good,  if  free ;  it  will  be  an  encumbrance,  if  free.  To  a  great 
extent,  it  will  produce  a  preponderance  in  favor  of  the  South  in 
the  Senate,  even  if  it  be  free.  Let  us  keep  it  out,  therefore. 
But  no.  We  will  make  the  acquisition,  bring  in  the  territory, 
and  manage  it  afterwards.  That  was  the  policy. 

Gentlemen,  in  an  important  crisis  in  English  history,  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  when  the  country  was  threatened 
by  the  accession  to  the  throne  of  a  prince,  then  called  the  Duke 
of  York,  who  was  a  bigot  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  a 
proposition  was  made  to  exclude  him  from  the  crown.  Some 
said  that  was  a  very  rash  measure,  brought  forward  by  very  rash 
men ;  that  they  had  better  admit  him,  and  then  put  limitations 
upon  him,  chain  him  down,  restrict  him.  When  the  debate  was 
going  on,  a  member  is  reported  to  have  risen  and  expressed 
his  sentiments  by  rather  a  grotesque  comparison,  but  one  of 
considerable  force :  — 

"  1  hear  a  lion,  in  the  lobby,  roar ! 
Say,  Mr.  Speaker,  shall  we  shut  the  door, 
And  keep  him  out ;  or  shall  we  let  him  in, 
And  see  if  we  can  get  him  out  again?  " 

1  was  for  shutting  the  door  and  keeping  the  lion  out.  Other 
more  confident  spirits,  who  are  of  the  character  of  Van  Amburgh, 
were  for  letting  him  in,  and  disturbing  all  the  interests  of  the 
country.  When  this  Mexican  treaty  came  before  the  Senate,  it 


142       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

had  certain  clauses  ceding  New  Mexico  and  California  to  the 
United  States.  A  Southern  gentleman,  Mr.  Badger,  of  North 
Carolina,  moved  to  strike  out  those  clauses.  Now  you  under 
stand,  that  if  a  motion  to  strike  out  a  clause  of  a  treaty  be  sup 
ported  by  one  third,  it  will  be  struck  out ;  that  is,  two  thirds  of 
the  Senate  must  vote  for  each  clause,  in  order  to  have  it  re 
tained.  The  vote  on  this  question  of  striking  out  stood  38  to 
14,  not  quite  one  third  being  against  the  cession,  and  so  the 
clause  was  retained.  And  why  were  there  not  one  third  ?  Just 
because  there  were  four  New  England  Senators  voting  for  these 
new  territories.  That  is  the  reason. 

I  hope  I  am  as  ardent  an  advocate  for  peace  as  any  man  liv 
ing  ;  but  I  would  not  be  carried  away  by  the  desire  for  peace  to 
commit  an  act  which  I  believed  highly  injurious,  likely  to  have 
consequences  of  a  permanent  character,  and  indeed  to  endanger 
the  existence  of  the  government.  Besides,  I  believed  that  we 
could  have  struck  out  the  cessions  of  territory,  and  had  peace 
just  as  soon.  And  I  would  be  willing  to  go  before  the  people 
and  leave  it  to  them  to  say,  whether  they  would  carry  on  the 
war  any  longer  for  acquisition  of  territory.  If  they  would,  then 
they  were  the  artificers  of  their  own  fortunes.  I  was  not  afraid 
of  the  people  on  that  subject.  But  if  this  course  had  continued 
the  war  somewhat  longer,  I  would  have  preferred  that  result, 
rather  than  that  those  territories  lying  on  our  southern  border 
should  come  in  hereafter  as  new  States.  I  should  speak,  per 
haps,  with  more  confidence,  if  some  Whigs  of  the  North  had 
not  voted  for  the  treaty.  My  own  opinion  was  then  clear 
and  decisive.  For  myself  I  thought  the  case  a  perfectly  plain 
one,  and  no  man  has  yet  stated  a  reason  to  convince  me  to  the 
contrary. 

I  voted  to  strike  out  the  articles  of  cession.  They  would  have 
been  struck  out  if  four  of  the  New  England  Senators  had  not 
voted  against  the  motion.  I  then  voted  against  the  ratification 
of  the  treaty,  and  that  treaty  would  have  failed  if  three  New  Eng 
land  Senators  had  not  voted  for  it,  and  Whig  Senators  too.  I 
should  do  the  same  thing  again,  and  with  much  more  resolution. 
I  would  have  run  a  still  greater  risk,  I  would  have  endured  a 
still  greater  shock,  I  would  have  risked  any  thing,  rather  than 
have  been  a  participator  in  any  measure  which  should  nave  a 
tendency  to  annex  Southern  territory  to  the  States  of  the  Union. 
I  hope  it  will  be  remembered,  in  all  future  time,  that  on  this 


Speech  at  Marshfield  143 

question  of  the  accession  of  these  new  territories  of  almost 
boundless  extent,  I  voted  against  them,  and  against  the  treaty 
which  contained  them,  notwithstanding  all  inducements  to  the 
contrary,  and  all  the  cries,  which  I  thought  hasty  and  injudi 
cious,  of  "  Peace !  Peace  on  any  terms ! "  I  will  add,  that  those 
who  voted  against  the  treaty  were  gentlemen  from  so  many 
parts  of  the  country,  that  its  rejection  would  have  been  an  act 
rather  of  national  than  of  local  resistance.  There  were  votes 
against  it  from  both  parties,  and  from  all  parties,  the  South  and 
the  West,  the  North  and  the  East.  What  we  wanted  was  a 
few  more  New  England  votes. 

Gentlemen,  after  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving  the  invitation 
to  meet  my  fellow-citizens,  I  found  it  necessary,  in  the  discharge 
of  my  duty,  though  with  great  inconvenience  to  my  health,  to 
be  present  at  the  closing  scenes  of  the  session.  You  know  what 
there  transpired.  You  know  the  important  decision  that  was 
made  in  both  houses  of  Congress,  in  regard  to  Oregon.  The 
immediate  question  respected  Oregon,  or  rather  the  bill  respected 
Oregon,  but  the  question  more  particularly  concerned  these  new 
territories.  The  effect  of  the  bill  as  passed  in  the  Senate  was 
to  establish  these  new  territories  as  slaveholding  States.  The 
House  disagreed.  The  Senate  receded  from  their  ground, 
and  the  bill  passed,  establishing  Oregon  as  a  free  Territory,  and 
making  no  provision  for  the  newly  acquired  territories  on  the 
South.  My  vote,  and  the  reasons  I  gave  for  it,  are  known  to  the 
good  people  of  Massachusetts,  and  I  have  not  heard  that  they 
have  expressed  any  particular  disapprobation  of  them. 

But  this  question  is  to  be  resumed  at  the  first  session  of  the 
next  Congress.  There  i&  no  probability  that  it  will  be  settled  at 
the  next  session  of  this  Congress.  But  at  least  at  the  first  ses 
sion  of  the  next  Congress  this  question  will  be  resumed.  It  will 
enter  at  this  very  period  into  all  the  elections  of  the  South. 

And  now  I  venture  to  say,  Gentlemen,  two  things ;  the  first 
well  known  to  you,  that  General  Cass  is  in  favor  of  what  is 
called  the  Compromise  Line ;  and  is  of  opinion  that  the  Wil- 
mot  Proviso,  or  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  which  excludes  slavery 
from  territories,  ought  not  to  be  applied  to  territories  lying  south 
of  36Q  30'.  He  announced  this  before  he  was  nominated,  and 
if  he  had  not  announced  it,  he  would  have  been  36°  30'  farther 
off  from  being  nominated.  In  the  next  place,  he  will  do  all  he 


144       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

can  to  establish  that  compromise  line ;  and  lastly,  which  is  a 
matter  of  opinion,  in  my  conscientious  belief,  he  will  establish  it. 

Give  him  the  power  and  the  patronage  of  the  government,  let 
him  exercise  it  over  certain  portions  of  the  country  whose  repre 
sentatives  voted  on  this  occasion  to  put  off  that  question  for  fu 
ture  consideration ;  let  him  have  the  power  of  this  government 
with  his  attachments,  with  his  inducements,  and  we  shall  see 
the  result.  I  verily  believe,  that  unless  there  is  a  renewed 
strength,  an  augmented  strength  of  Whig  votes  in  Congress,  he 
will  accomplish  his  purpose.  He  will  surely  have  the  Senate, 
and  with  the  patronage  of  the  government,  with  every  interest 
which  he  can  bring  to  bear,  cooperating  with  every  interest 
which  the  South  can  bring  to  bear,  he  will  establish  the  com 
promise  line.  We  cry  safety  before  we  are  out  of  the  woods, 
if  we  feel  that  the  danger  respecting  the  territories  is  over. 

Gentlemen,  I  came  here  to  confer  with  you  as  friends  and 
countrymen,  to  speak  my  own  mind  and  hear  yours ;  but  if  we 
all  should  speak,  and  occupy  as  much  time  as  I  have,  we  should 
make  a  late  meeting.  I  shall  detain  you  no  longer.  I  have 
been  long  in  public  life,  longer,  far  longer  than  I  shall  remain 
there.  I  have  had  some  participation  for  more  than  thirty  years 
in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  I  profess  to  feel  a  strong  attach 
ment  to  the  liberty  of  the  United  States,  to  the  Constitution  and 
free  institutions  of  this  country,  to  the  honor,  and  I  may  say  the 
glory,  of  my  native  land.  I  feel  every  injury  inflicted  upon  it, 
almost  as  a  personal  injury.  I  blush  for  every  fault  which  I 
think  I  see  committed  in  its  public  councils,  as  if  they  were 
faults  or  mistakes  of  my  own.  I  know  that,  at  this  moment, 
there  is  no  object  upon  earth  so  much  attracting  the  gaze  of  the 
intelligent  and  civilized  nations  of  the  earth  as  this  great  repub 
lic.  All  men  look  at  us,  all  men  examine  our  course,  all  good 
men  are  anxious  for  a  favorable  result  to  this  great  experiment 
of  republican  liberty.  We  are  on  a  hill  and  cannot  be  hid.  We 
cannot  withdraw  ourselves  either  from  the  commendation  or  the 
reproaches  of  the  civilized  world.  They  see  us  as  that  star  of 
empire  which  half  a  century  ago  was  represented  as  making 
its  way  westward.  I  wish  they  may  see  it  as  a  mild,  placid, 
though  brilliant  orb,  moving  athwart  the  whole  heavens  to  the 
enlightening  and  cheering  of  mankind ;  and  not  as  a  meteor  of 
fire  and  blood,  terrifying  the  nations. 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall 

Previous  to  the  Election 
in  1848 


VOL.  IV.  —  10 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall 


ONCE  again,  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  once  again,  and  quite 
unexpectedly,  I  find  myself  in  Faneuil  Hall.  And  I  feel  all  the 
recollections  of  the  past  gathering  upon  me.  I  hear  a  thousand 
voices,  silent  elsewhere,  but  always  speaking  here,  admonishing 
me,  and  admonishing  you,  who  do  me  the  honor  to  be  here,  to 
perform  the  whole  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  country.  I  come 
here  to-day,  in  obedience  to  an  authority  which  I  must  always 
respect,  the  wishes  of  the  people  of  Suffolk  and  the  Whigs  of 
the  Commonwealth,  to  express  to  them  my  opinions  upon  the 
present  state  of  the  internal  affairs  of  the  country,  the  concerns 
of  business  and  the  occupations  of  men,  and  their  prospects  for 
the  future ;  and  I  proceed,  without  preface,  to  the  performance 
of  that  duty. 

An  election  of  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States  is  now  pending,  and  a  choice  of  members  for  the  new  Con 
gress  is  already  in  progress.  It  is  in  vain  to  disguise,  that  the  re 
sult  of  these  elections  must  produce  a  decided  effect,  for  good  or 
for  evil,  upon  the  interests  of  men  and  their  pursuits,  at  the  pres 
ent  moment,  and  upon  the  prospects  which  lie  beyond  the  present. 
There  are,  in  fact,  Gentlemen,  but  two  candidates  for  the  Presi 
dency,  General  Taylor,  the  Whig  candidate,  and  General  Cass, 
the  Democratic  candidate.  As  to  the  support  of  another  gen 
tleman,  which  some  of  our  friends,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  have  em 
braced  and  still  pursue,  I  regard  it,  in  a  military  sense  of  the 
phrase,  as  a  mere  diversion ;  and  if  the  subject  were  not  solemn, 
and  the  occasion  solemn,  I  should  say  it  was  very  much  of  a 
diversion,  also,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  that  term. 

*  A  Speech  delivered  in  Faneuil  Hall,  on  the  24th  of  October,  at  a  general 
meeting  of  the  Whigs  of  Boston  and  the  vicinity,  previous  to  the  Presidential 
Election. 


148       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

There  are,  fellow-citizens,  two  candidates,  and  no  more ;  and 
the  election  of  one  or  the  other,  accompanied  with  a  corre 
spondent  election  in  point  of  political  character  of  members  of 
Congress,  will  produce  one  or  the  other,  respectively,  of  two  re 
sults  ;  and  those  results  regard  the  present  state  of  the  business 
of  the  country,  as  it  is  affected  by  two  acts  of  recent  legislation. 
If  General  Taylor  be  elected  President,  and  if  there  be,  to  sus 
tain  his  measures,  a  Whig  Congress,  there  are  two  existing 
laws  of  the  country  which  will  be  essentially  modified,  or  alto 
gether  repealed.  I  mean  those  commonly  called  the  sub-treas 
ury  law  and  the  tariff  of  1846.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  General 
Cass  be  chosen,  and  a  Congress  elected,  at  the  same  time,  to 
sustain  his  views  of  the  public  interests,  both  of  these  existing 
laws  will  be  continued  in  force. 

Gentlemen,  I  saw  this  morning  a  speech  delivered  lately  in 
Washington  by  the  present  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Buchanan, 
a  gentleman  who  is  among  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first,  of 
his  party,  in  point  of  character  and  standing  in  the  country. 
Differing  from  most  of  the  sentiments  in  this  speech,  I  still  do 
its  author  the  credit  and  justice  to  say,  that  it  is  a  manly  speech. 
He  says,  having  first  paid  a  just,  and  no  more  than  a  just,  trib 
ute  of  respect  to  the  military  character,  good  sense  and  strong 
understanding,  and  the  upright  and  pure  motives  of  General 
Taylor,  he  says  of  him,  nevertheless,  that  he  is  a  Whig,  and 
that  being  himself  a  Whig,  if  elected  President  by  the  Whigs, 
and  surrounded,  as  he  will  be,  by  a  Whig  Cabinet,  he  must, 
from  the  necessity  of  his  position,  carry  into  effect  Whig  prin 
ciples  and  Whig  measures ;  and  that  he  would  be  faithless  to 
his  friends  and  his  party  if  he  did  not  do  that.  I  agree  to  all 
this,  Gentlemen,  and  I  believe  that  he  would  be  prompted  to 
Whig  principles  and  Whig  measures,  not  more  by  the  neces 
sities  of  his  position,  than  from  what  I  believe  to  be  his  deep 
conviction  of  the  policy,  propriety,  justice,  and  soundness  of 
those  principles. 

Well,  Gentlemen,  as  Mr.  Buchanan  has  stated  one  side  of  the 
case  fairly,  allow  me  to  state  the  other.  And  I  may  say,  upon 
the  other  hand,  if  General  Cass  be  elected  President,  and  a  cor 
responding  Congress  be  at  the  same  time  elected,  he  will  carry 
out  the  Democratic  platform  of  Baltimore,  he  will  exert  the  in 
fluence  of  his  office  in  favor  of  the  sub-treasury  and  the  tariff  of 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  149 

1846.  He  will  follow  the  bright  example  of  him  whom  he  so  much 
commends,  Mr.  Polk,  and  whatever,  in  the  same  career  of  legis 
lation,  Mr.  Polk  has  left  undone,  General  Cass  will  be  on  hand 
to  do.  So  that  it  brings  us  exactly,  as  practical  men,  as  men 
who  are  not  carried  away  by  theories,  as  men  who  do  not  at 
tach  all  degree  and  all  manner  of  importance  to  one  single  idea, 
as  men  who  regard  the  various  interests  of  the  country,  now  and 
hereafter,  to  this  position,  to  give  our  suffrages  and  our  support 
heartily  and  cordially  to  General  Taylor,  or  to  consent  to  the 
election  of  General  Cass. 

Ought  these  measures,  to  which  I  have  thus  referred,  to  be 
further  prolonged  or  continued,  or  ought  they  now  to  be  re 
pudiated,  —  to  be  set  aside,  and  to  give  place  to  other  and  wiaer 
measures  of  government  ?  That  is  the  question  pending.  And 
to  begin  with  what  is  called  the  sub-treasury  system.  Ought 
that  to  be  continued  ?  Is  it  useful  ?  Do  the  business  men  of 
the  community  find  a  benefit  in  it  ?  Do  the  laboring  classes  find 
it  to  protect  their  interests  ?  In  short,  does  government  find  it 
convenient  for  its  own  purposes  ? 

But  before  we  consider  what  the  results  of  the  pending  elec 
tion  may  be,  it  may  be  well  to  understand  what  is  the  present 
state  of  the  country,  in  regard  to  the  business  and  occupations 
of  men. 

On  that  point,  Gentlemen,  I  might,  with  great  propriety,  ask 
for  information  from  you.  And  what  I  have  to  say  upon  it,  I  say 
with  deference  to  your  knowledge  and  experience.  What,  then, 
is  the  present  state  of  things  ?  I  suppose  I  may  answer,  that 
there  is  a  very  unusual  scarcity  of  money,  or  high  price  of  money, 
in  the  community  at  the  present  moment ;  that  it  has  lasted  a 
very  unusual  length  of  time ;  that  it  has  now  continued  for  more 
than  twelve  months,  without  any  apparent  abatement.  I  sup 
pose  I  may  say,  that  there  is  a  great  depression  of  industry  and 
stagnation  of  business,  and  discouragement  to  the  occupations 
of  men.  I  suppose  I  may  say,  with  truth,  that  there  is  a  dimin 
ished  demand  for  manufacturing  labor,  and  a  great  and  increas 
ing  diminution  in  its  reward.  Is  this  a  true,  though  brief,  pre 
sentation  of  the  actual  state  of  things  ? 

There  are  before  me  hundreds  of  men  who,  with  some  capital, 
like  all  other  men  of  business,  have  occasion  also,  at  times,  for 
loans  and  discounts.  Do  they  find,  and  do  they  admit,  and  do 


150      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

they  feel,  that  money  is  scarce  and  dear  ?  Do  they  find,  in  the 
daily  operations  of  affairs  in  their  own  sphere  of  active  life,  that 
they  are  embarrassed  on  account  of  this  dearness  of  money  ? 
All  that  I  suppose  every  body  can  answer  for  himself.  I  sup 
pose  it  is  too  notorious  to  be  doubted  for  a  moment ;  and  having 
put  this  question  to  the  active,  industrious  classes  of  society,  en 
gaged  in  trade  and  manufactures,  and  expecting  to  receive,  if 
they  were  to  speak,  but  one  answer  from  them  all,  I  would,  in  the 
next  place,  put  the  question  to  the  rich  men  of  the  country,  to 
the  capitalists,  to  the  men  who  have  money  to  lend.  I  would 
ask  them  whether  good  notes  are  not  now  to  be  had  at  what 
they  consider  a  satisfactory  rate  of  discount ;  and  I  should  ex 
pect  to  receive  from  them  a  very  cheerful  and  satisfied  answer. 

In  my  judgment,  Gentlemen,  for  a  whole  year  back,  the  rich 
have  been  growing  richer  and  richer;  the  active  and  industri 
ous  classes  have  been  more  and  more  embarrassed;  and  the 
poor  have  been  growing  poorer  and  poorer,  every  day  through 
out  the  whole  year.  And  in  my  judgment,  further,  so  long  as 
this  sub-treasury  lasts,  so  long  as  the  present  rate  of  duties  and 
customs  lasts,  that  is  to  say,  so  long  as  the  tariff  of  1846  con 
tinues,  this  state  of  accumulation  by  the  rich,  of  distress  of 
the  industrious  classes,  and  of  the  aggravated  poverty  of  the 
poor,  will  go  on  from  degree  to  degree,  to  an  end  which  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  calculate. 

In  the  first  place,  Gentlemen,  as  to  this  constitutional  sub- 
treasury,  I  look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  strangest  fantasies,  as 
one  of  the  greatest  deceptions,  and  as  one  of  the  least  plausi 
ble  political  delusions,  ever  produced  by  party  power  and  party 
management.  Is  there  a  civilized  and  commercial  country  in 
the  world  that  knows  any  such  thing  as  locking  up  in  chests  and 
boxes,  under  bolts  and  bars,  the  public  treasury  ?  Is  there  any 
civilized  people  upon  the  earth,  that  separates  the  interest  of 
the  government,  in  respect  to  currency  and  money,  from  the  in 
terests  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  such  thing  known  in  Eng 
land,  or  France,  or  wherever  a  spirit  of  commerce  has  pervaded 
the  people  ?  If  there  is,  I  am  ignorant  of  it. 

And  now,  historically,  let  me  ask,  How  did  it  arise,  and  what 
is  its  origin  ?  It  is  all  very  plain,  and  soon  told.  General  Jack 
son  had  a  controversy  with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  in 
which  the  public  moneys  were  deposited.  He  withdrew  those 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  151 

public  moneys  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  in  the  year 
1833.  How,  then,  should  the  public  moneys  be  kept?  He 
did  not  see  fit  to  leave  them  as  they  were  before  there  were 
banks,  in  the  hands  of  collectors,  to  be  drawn  as  wanted,  but  he 
adopted  an  "  experiment,"  as  he  called  it  at  the  time,  and  placed 
them  in  deposit  banks.  That  experiment  failed  in  1836  and 
1837;  and  with  a  great  explosion,  these  State  deposit  banks 
blew  up. 

By  this  time,  Mr.  Van  Buren  had  come  into  office,  and  sum 
moned  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  which  assembled  in  Sep 
tember,  1837 ;  and  Mr.  Van  Buren  and  his  counsellors  produced 
on  that  day,  as  an  original  idea,  —  and  it  was  altogether  origi 
nal,  —  as  of  their  own  invention,  —  and  it  was  of  then*  own 
invention,  for  in  that  respect  they  stole  no  man's  thunder, — 
they  produced  this  project  of  what  they  called  a  constitutional 
treasury,  or  sub-treasury,  which  was  to  lock  up  in  the  chests 
of  the  government  every  dollar  which  the  government  received, 
until  it  should  be  called  for  again  by  the  government,  thus  ab 
stracting  it  from  the  business  of  society,  and  obstructing  all 
commercial  proceedings  as  far  as  so  much  capital  is  concerned. 

That  system  prevailed.  The  country  tried  it.  It  lasted  dur 
ing  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration;  and  you  and  I,  and  all 
other  Whigs  in  the  country,  exerted  ourselves  to  expose  the 
bad  character,  the  uselessness,  the  inconvenience,  and  the  mis 
chievous  operation  of  this  sub-treasury ;  and  upon  that,  the 
Whigs  of  the  country  turned  Mr.  Van  Buren  out  of  office. 
Yes,  Gentlemen,  there  was  no  question  which  had  more  to  do 
with  the  overthrow  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration  and  the 
election  of  General  Harrison,  in  November,  1840,  than  this  very 
question  of  the  sub-treasury.  Do  we  not  all  know  that  ? 

And  now,  by  the  way,  if  it  be  by  the  way  and  not  too  far  out 
of  the  way,  what  are  we  Whigs  requested  to  do  by  many  mem 
bers  of  the  community,  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  by  some  of  our 
own  party  ?  We  are  requested  to  take  back  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
sub-treasury  and  all.  We  are  requested  to  pass  judgment  against 
ourselves  for  our  decision  in  1840.  And  I  see  men  in  this 
Commonwealth,  individuals,  —  but,  thank  Heaven,  they  are  not 
a  great  number,  —  who,  at  the  period  of  that  discussion,  in 
Congress  and  out  of  Congress,  with  a  voice  as  distinct  as  mine, 
and  talents  far  greater,  opposed,  decried,  and  condemned  the 


152       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Bub-treasury  system,  as  the  greatest  evil  any  government  could 
inflict  upon  a  commercial  people,  such  as  ours ;  I  see  them  now 
taking  Mr.  Van  Buren,  sub-treasury  and  all,  and  locking  him 
up  in  their  embrace  as  fast  as  they  can. 

Gentlemen,  I  see  with  regret,  that  some  of  those  who  have 
been  with  us,  —  been  with  us  here,  been  with  us  in  the  presence 
of  these  portraits  of  great  men  which  hang  around  us,  —  denoun 
cing,  as  we  denounced,  the  policy  of  the  government  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  time,  upholding,  as  we  endeavored  to  uphold,  the  neces 
sity  of  a  proper  medium  of  currency  for  the  people  as  well  as 
the  government,  and  the  necessity  of  a  fair  tariff  that  should  pro 
tect  the  industry  of  the  laboring  classes,  —  I  see  with  pain  and 
grief,  that  some  gentlemen  of  that  class  now  say  that  these  are 
all  "  bygone "  questions,  and  "  obsolete,"  and  not  fit  to  be  re 
vived.  In  my  judgment,  that  is  a  position  unworthy  of  these 
gentlemen.  We  say,  on  the  contrary,  that  here  the  substantial 
issues  are  the  same.  It  is  this  sub-treasury  which  we  would 
oppose,  this  tariff  of  1846,  which  we  felt  as  a  millstone  tied 
around  our  necks,  as  it  has  proved  itself  little  else ;  these  are 
still  the  things  to  be  got  rid  of. 

And  those  gentlemen  who  choose  to  say  that  these  questions 
are  sunk,  overwhelmed,  and  forgotten  in  the  presence  of  the 
"  one  idea,"  —  such  gentlemen  mistake  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  of  Massachusetts.  Why,  let  us  again  hear  the  friend  of 
Mr.  Polk  (Mr.  Buchanan)  in  his  recent  speech  at  Washington, 
a  gentleman,  certainly,  who  has  as  much  right  to  speak  for  his 
party  as  any  other  man  in  the  country.  He  puts  the  questions 
to  be  just  such  as  they  were  in  1840,  or  rather  in  1844.  He  says 
that  the  issue  is  between  the  party  that  will  uphold  this  noble 
sub-treasury,  and  this  glorious  tariff  of  1846,  and  those  who 
would  sacrilegiously  destroy  both  the  one  and  the  other. 

But  here  our  brethren  who  take  leave  of  us  say  that  there  is 
no  difficulty  about  a  tariff,  —  that  every  body  agrees  that  we 
must  have  a  tariff.  But  what  sort  of  a  tariff?  They  might  as 
well  say  every  body  agrees  that  we  must  have  a  form  of  govern 
ment;  but  what  sort  of  government?  Every  body  believes  it 
will  be  some  sort  of  weather  to-morrow,  but  what  sort  of  weath 
er  ?  Fair  or  foul  ?  No,  Gentlemen,  these  questions  are  inherent 
in  our  different  views  of  policy.  One  side  of  them  belongs  to 
the  Whigs,  because  they  are  Whigs,  and  the  other  side  to  our 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  153 

opponents,  because  they  are  opponents  to  Whigs ;  and  so  long 
as  there  shall  be  Whigs,  and  opponents  to  Whigs,  upon  ques 
tions  which  have  lasted  from  the  days  of  Washington,  let  me 
say,  so  long  will  this  tariff  question  be  important  and  distinc 
tive.  I  say  again,  Mr.  Buchanan  is  manly  and  fair.  He  does 
not  go  about  now,  as  he  or  his  friends  did  in  1844,  to  tell  the 
people  of  Pennsylvania  that  they  shall  have  a  good  tariff  and 
specific  duties.  He  does  not  say  that  their  candidate  is  more  of 
a  tariff  man  than  the  Whig  candidate.  If  he  did  not  say  this  in 
1844,  his  political  friends  said  it.  He  says  now  the  sub-treas 
ury  is  a  noble  institution ;  and  he  speaks  of  the  present  exist 
ing  tariff  as  a  system  that  has  answered  all  the  purposes  and 
sustained  the  business  of  the  country.  I  am  glad  to  say  that 
there  is  no  more  equivocation ;  that  the  question  is  put  fair 
ly  to  us  in  Massachusetts,  fairly  to  Pennsylvania,  fairly  to  the 
Union,  respecting  the  sub-treasury  and  the  manner  of  dispos 
ing  of  the  moneys  of  the  government,  and  between  the  tariff  of 
1846  and  something  like  the  tariff  of  1842,  that  is  to  say,  a  pro 
tective  tariff. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  before  going 
on  to  other  things,  that  this  sub-treasury,  the  invention  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  is  still  his  favorite.  As  far  as  I  remember,  it  has 
received  no  rebuke  at  the  Buffalo  Convention;  and  I  believe, 
with  all  respect,  that  that  Buffalo  platform  was  constructed  of 
such  slight  materials,  that,  while  it  would  not  bear  a  very  heavy 
tread,  it  would  sustain  the  fox-like  footsteps  of  Mr.  Van  Buren. 
The  creed  was  drawn  up  and  made  such  as  he  could  sign.  And 
now,  what  is  in  point  of  fact  the  operation  of  this  sub-treasury 
system  ?  I  am  quite  aware  that  I  speak  here  in  presence  of 
merchants,  manufacturers,  and  men  of  business,  who  understand 
it  a  great  deal  better  than  I  do ;  but  I  shall  state  its  actual  oper 
ation,  as  far  as  I  can  inform  myself  of  it.  I  am  not  now  about 
to  argue  either  against  the  sub-treasury  or  against  the  tariff  of 
1846.  These  measures  have  been  the  law  of  the  land  now  for 
two  years,  and  all  men  of  business  have  had  a  taste  of  their 
effects.  All  I  propose  to-night  is  to  bring  them  to  the  trial,  to 
inquire  into  their  actual  operations,  and  see  whether  they  have 
fulfilled  the  promises  of  their  friends,  either  by  doing  good  or 
averting  evil. 

And  instead  of  going  into  general  principles  and  statements,  I 


154      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

have  thought  it  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  you,  and  more 
convenient  to  myself,  to  present  to  you  the  operation  of  this  sub- 
treasury  system  in  the  great  city  of  New  York;  because  we 
know  that  New  York  is  the  great  centre  of  the  money  market, 
as  well  as  the  great  emporium  of  foreign  commerce.  I  have 
been  at  some  pains  to  investigate  the  matter,  and  I  will  state 
the  results  as  I  have  learned  them.  The  truth  is  this :  when 
money  is  plenty,  the  sub-treasury  is  only  a  ludicrous,  bungling, 
and  annoying  thing,  forcing  men  of  business  to  move  about 
bags  and  kegs  of  specie,  when  the  business  would  be  just  as 
well  done  by  the  passing  of  bank-notes.  When  money  is  plen 
ty,  it  is  only  expensive,  bungling,  useless,  annoying,  and  ridicu 
lous  ;  but  the  moment  that,  by  the  exportation  of  specie,  or  what 
ever  other  cause,  money  becomes  scarce,  and  the  exigencies  of 
the  business  community  begin  to  press,  then  it  is  not  merely  a 
harmless  and  ludicrous  engine ;  it  becomes  then  a  means  of  tor 
ture  and  distress,  because  its  inevitable  effect,  when  money  is 
scarce,  is  to  make  it  scarcer,  and  when  it  is  difficult  to  be  had, 
to  increase  that  difficulty. 

I  find  that  on  the  25th  day  of  August  last,  the  commercial 
banks  in  the  city  of  New  York  had  in  their  vaults  $  5,800,000  in 
coin.  That  was  the  basis  upon  which  they  made  their  issues 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  mercantile  world.  The  sub- 
treasury  had  at  that  time  in  its  vaults,  in  the  same  city,  four 
teen  hundred  thousand  dollars.  In  the  course  of  events,  with 
in  one  month  that  relation  was  greatly  changed ;  for  on  the  29th 
of  September  the  banks  had  but  forty-six  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  while  the  sub-treasury  had  increased  its  amount  to 
twenty-four  hundred  thousand.  Thus,  in  a  few  days  more  than 
a  month,  the  banks  parted  with  twelve  hundred  thousand  dol 
lars  of  specie,  and  the  sub-treasury  obtained  the  additional  sum 
of  one  million.  This  change  in  the  relation  between  the  amounts 
of  money  in  these  respective  depositories  at  once  created  a  great 
scarcity  of  money ;  for  every  body  knows  that  the  specie  or  coin 
in  the  banks  is  the  only  safe  basis  for  their  circulation ;  and  as, 
in  this  case,  the  banks  in  one  month  lost  twelve  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars  of  coin,  they  must,  of  course,  draw  in  their  circula 
tion,  not  merely  to  replace  the  twelve  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
but  to  replace  all  that  portion  of  their  circulation  represented  by 
that  amount.  All  practical  mercantile  men  understand  this.  Tf 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  155 

a  bank  loses  a  certain  quantity  of  specie,  it  must  curtail  its  dis 
counts,  not  to  the  same  extent,  but  to  three  or  four  times  that 
extent.  I  know  that  the  proportion  may  be  stated  as  three 
to  one,  but  it  is  more  likely  to  exceed  that  proportion  than  to 
fall  short  of  it.  Then  this  withdrawal  of  so  large  a  sum  as 
twelve  hundred  thousand  dollars  would  naturally  lead  to  a  cur 
tailment  by  the  banks.  That  is  one  turn  of  the  sub-treasury 
screw,  and  how  many  more  such  turns  will  it  take  to  put  the  pa 
tient  in  perfect  torture  ?  The  depression  of  business  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  resulting  from  this  curtailment,  led,  I  suppose,  to 
the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  by  which,  by  a  certain 
kind  of  habeas  corpus  writ,  he  should  free  from  the  sub-treasury 
a  certain  sum,  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and,  in  its  place, 
put  in  confinement  a  quantity  of  treasury-notes.  I  have  not  ex 
amined  the  question,  and  will  not  therefore  say  that  the  proceed 
ings  are  illegal.  But  it  seems  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  found  that  the  government  were  not  masters  of  the  machin 
ery,  or  else  it  was  not  a  machine  that  any  master  could  work. 

This  very  operation,  then,  led  to  the  necessary  contraction  of 
three  and  a  half  or  four  millions  of  dollars  in  the  commercial 
business  of  the  city  of  New  York.  Now  this  demand  of  the 
sub-treasury  could  be  made  in  a  day,  and  when  made  in  one 
day  or  one  week,  it  must  be  answered  in  one  day  or  one  week. 
But  then  no  banks  could  make  the  curtailment  in  one  day  or  one 
week  or  one  month,  to  such  an  extent,  without  greatly  distressing 
the  community.  What  is  the  consequence  ?  The  consequence 
is,  inevitably,  to  inspire  mistrust  and  apprehension  among  those 
who  manage  these  institutions ;  to  restrain  them  from  what  they 
would  otherwise  do,  for  fear  that  events  should  show  that  they 
have  acted  imprudently,  if  not  even  incurred  great  danger  of  ruin. 
The  merchants  and  dealers  of  the  country,  the  superintend 
ents  of  banks,  here  and  elsewhere,  keep  an  accurate  account  of 
the  imports  and  exports  of  specie,  the  imports  and  exports  of 
goods,  of  the  balance  of  trade,  and  can  prepare  for  a  change,  be 
cause  a  shock  of  that  sort  does  not  come  like  lightning,  —  they 
have  some  premonition  of  it.  But  who  can  calculate  before 
hand  what  will  be  the  demands  of  the  government,  or  what,  in 
a  particular  day  or  week,  will  be  the  amount  of  imports  on 
which  the  duties  must  be  paid  in  coin  ?  Who  can  foresee  how 
many  vessels  will  arrive  in  a  day  or  a  week,  and,  out  of  this 


156       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

money  now  in  the  vaults  of  the  bank,  what  quantity  may  be  de 
manded  in  an  hour  ?  Therefore  there  is  a  constant  apprehen 
sion  and  fear.  The  consequence  of  this  is  a  fluctuation  from 
day  to  day  in  the  money  market,  not  from  good  to  bad,  but  from 
bad  to  worse;  then,  perhaps,  down  again  from  worse  to  not 
quite  so  bad,  but  oftener  up  still  further,  to  a  degree  of  scarcity 
which  is  quite  unexampled  in  the  history  of  this  country. 

Gentlemen,  upon  this  subject  let  me  show  you  how  I,  with 
my  partial  means  of  information  and  my  limited  intercourse 
with  men  of  business  here  in  the  capital  of  New  England,  — 
with  some  degree  of  acquaintance  with  men  of  business  in  the 
ommercial  emporium  of  the  country,  New  York,  —  how  far 
I  differ  from  the  great  authority  to  which  I  have  just  alluded, 
Mr.  Buchanan.  In  his  speech  four  or  five  days  ago,  he  said, 
"  Where,  since  the  Almighty  first  placed  man  upon  the  earth, 
has  there  been  any  nation  to  compare  with  ours  in  rapid  and 
substantial  improvement  ?  "  I  say  nowhere ;  I  answer  that  ques 
tion  readily.  "  It  has  now  become  the  wonder  as  well  as  the 
model  of  the  world " ;  and  I  hope  it  will  continue  to  be  so. 
"  Our  prosperity  has  known  no  ebb  in  its  sweeping  course,  ex 
cept  from  the  expansions  and  contractions  of  our  paper  curren 
cy,  and  the  individual  ruin  which  this  has  occasioned.  For 
these  temporary  revulsions,  we  are  indebted  to  Whig  policy. 
And  even  for  them,  to  a  great  extent,  Democracy  has  found 
a  preventive  in  the  much-abused  independent  treasury."  The 
independent  treasury,  then,  is  a  preventive  against  expansions 
and  fluctuations  in  the  currency,  against  the  course  of  things 
that  makes  money  easy  to-day  and  hard  to-morrow.  "  Whilst 
this  restrains  wild  speculation  and  over-trading  on  the  part 
of  banks  and  individuals,  it  has  at  the  same  time  afforded 
the  best  and  surest  protection  to  domestic  manufactures,  a  great 
and  growing  interest  which  must  be  ever  dear  to  the  country  " 
Now,  if  the  commercial  interest  and  manufacturing  interest  see 
these  things  as  Mr,  Buchanan  sees  them,  then  nobody  has  a 
right  to  complain.  If  they  see  that  the  sub-treasury  prevents 
fluctuations,  instead  of  producing  them;  if  they  see  that  this 
sub-treasury  has  protected  the  interests  of  manufactures ;  if  they 
see  that,  under  the  operation  of  this  sub-treasury  and  the  tariff  of 
1846,  the  iron  mills  are  all  flourishing,  the  woollen  mills  all  going 
on,  everywhere,  in  great  prosperity,  —  if  they  see  all  that,  then 
Mr.  Buchanan  is  entirely  right. 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  157 

These  remarks  of  Mr.  Buchanan  contain  two  propositions. 
One  is,  that  the  sub-treasury  has  in  fact  prevented  fluctuations. 
Now,  for  one,  I  should  say  that,  within  my  recollection,  there 
has  never  been  so  great  a  fluctuation  in  the  money  market  as 
we  have  witnessed  for  the  last  two  years.  Many  of  you  have 
memories  long  enough  to  go  back  and  review,  in  your  own 
minds,  the  transactions  of  the  past  fifteen  years.  Did  you  ever 
know  such  great  fluctuations  in  the  value  of  money  as  you  have 
witnessed  in  the  last  two  years,  with  the  exception  that  its  fluc 
tuations  have  generally  been  between  prices  always  high  ? 

The  next  proposition  is,  that  protection  to  manufactures  is 
afforded  by  the  sub-treasury.  So  Mr.  Buchanan  says ;  but  I  can 
hardly  think  it  is  quite  respectful  to  the  intelligence  and  under 
standing  of  this  community  to  hold  or  announce  such  a  doc 
trine.  I  should  think  he  supposed  us  ready  to  swallow  camels 
of  any  size.  The  sub-treasury  foster  manufactures  !  The  tariff 
of  1846  foster  manufactures !  Then  why  do  they  not  prosper  ? 
Thus  fostered  and  protected,  how  many  of  them  have,  within 
the  last  six  months,  sunk  away  and  come  to  nothing  ?  Among 
our  most  important  manufactures  here  at  the  North,  essential  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  country  and  employing  large  capital,  do  we 
not  see  them  sinking  away  every  day?  What,  then,  is  the  re 
sult  of  that  fostering  care,  and  the  operation  of  these  fostering 
laws? 

Gentlemen,  there  is  another  consideration  connected  with  this 
sub-treasury.  Three  fourths  of  all  the  importations  from  Eu 
rope  are  on  foreign  account;  our  importing  merchants  know 
nothing  about  them.  If  you  go  to  State  Street  in  Boston,  or 
Wall  Street  in  New  York,  and  ask  what  importations  are  com 
ing,  they  tell  you  they  do  not  know.  It  is  asserted,  and  I  be 
lieve  it  is  true  beyond  question,  that  three  fourths  of  our  im 
portations  from  Europe  are  sent  to  this  country  on  foreign  ac 
count,  consigned  to  commission  merchants.  They  are  sold,  and 
their  proceeds  are  remitted,  and  our  merchants  know  no  more  of 
their  probable  coming  or  their  amount  than  any  body  else. 
Therefore  there  is  no  knowledge  among  us,  and  can  be  no 
knowledge  among  us,  of  what  will  be  the  state  of  the  money 
market ;  for  when  they  arrive,  the  duties  must  be  paid  immedi 
ately,  thus  placing  it  in  the  power  of  foreign  consignors  of  goods 
coming  to  this  country  to  depress  the  money  market  at  pleasure. 


158       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

They  may  transfer  from  the  banks  into  the  sub-treasury,  there  to 
be  locked  up,  an  amount  of  money  responsive  to  any  importa 
tions  they  may  choose  to  make. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  sub-treasury  at  New  York.  I  have  not 
inquired  particularly  into  the  state  of  the  banks,  and  the  opera 
tion  upon  them  and  then-  circulation  of  the  sub-treasury,  in  this 
city.  I  suppose  it  probable  that  there  may  be  four  or  five  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  now  locked  up  in  the  sub-treasury  in 
Boston,  say  half  a  million.  Well,  now  if  that  were  retained  as 
the  basis  of  bank  circulation,  under  the  ordinary  terms  and  con 
ditions  which  make  such  a  circulation  safe,  it  would  enable  the 
banks  to  make  an  issue  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  money,  be 
sides  what  is  now  in  circulation.  As  it  is,  it  answers  no  useful 
purpose  in  the  community,  but  rather  inspires  terror  and  dis 
trust,  and,  for  all  the  uses  of  commerce,  it  would  be  just  as  well 
that  it  did  not  exist  at  all. 

I  have  said  that  I  supposed  that  money  has  not  been  known 
to  be  dearer  for  a  long  time.  I  suppose  that,  if  we  take  the 
quantity  loaned  by  the  banks  at  the  rate  of  interest  to  which 
they  are  limited,  and  if  we  then  take  the  rates  known  to  have 
oeen  paid  by  private  borrowers  to  private  lenders  last  year,  the 
rate  of  interest  for  the  last  twelve  months,  on  the  whole,  can 
hardly  be  considered  under  ten  per  cent.  Now,  we  have  to 
carry  on  the  business  of  the  country,  I  mean  the  men  of  busi 
ness  have  to  do  so,  with  money  at  this  rate,  while  in  England 
it  certainly  is  not  worth  quite  half  so  much.  Therefore  a  man 
of  business  in  the  United  States,  at  this  moment,  who  has  some 
capital,  and  at  the  same  time,  like  most  men,  has  occasion  some 
times  for  bank  facilities  and  to  borrow  money,  pays  twice  as 
much  as  a  man  of  the  same  circumstances  pays  for  the  like 
facilities  in  England.  Every  man  can  see  the  result  of  this. 

I  leave  the  sub-treasury,  and  turn  to  the  tariff  of  1846.  Cer 
tainly  I  shall  not  argue  now  against  that  tariff ;  I  shall  not  now 
discuss  its  apparent  defects  and  its  inconsistency  with  estab 
lished  principles.  On  another  occasion  and  in  another  place,  I 
went  through  all  that,  with  very  little  success.  It  is  the  law  of 
the  land ;  it  has  been  in  operation  for  two  years.  But  let  me 
say,  that  it  is  a  measure  new  to  the  history  of  the  commercial 
world  in  modern  times.  It  is  a  tariff  of  duties  altogether  ad 
valorem,  with  no  specifications,  with  no  just  discrimination  in 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  159 

favor  of  domestic  industry  and  products.  If  any  body  can  find 
a  tariff  like  that,  let  it  be  produced.  When  under  discussion  in 
the  Senate,  we  said  all  we  could  against  it,  and  we  said  some 
pretty  provoking  things,  but  there  was  not  a  word  uttered  in  its 
support.  Its  friends  maintained  a  most  judicious  silence.  One 
of  them  arose,  and  by  an  almost  unnatural  force  of  speech  cried 
out,  "  The  tariff  will  vindicate  itself,"  and  sat  down. 

Now  we  appeal  to  you,  whether  this  tariff  has  vindicated 
itself;  whether  it  has  answered  its  ends ;  whether  it  is  of  the  char 
acter  ascribed  to  it.  I  say,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  is  purely  a 
party  measure.  I  do  not  know  but  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  here  and  there,  a  man  straggling  from  his  party  voted  for 
it  or  against  it,  but  in  the  body  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be 
a  member,  it  was  strictly  a  party  vote.  I  know  that  Mr.  Jarne- 
gan  voted  for  it,  but  his  constituents  in  Tennessee  instructed  him 
so  to  vote ;  his  masters  were  Democrats ;  he  obeyed  his  masters, 
and  his  was  therefore  a  Democratic  vote.  Well,  the  Senate  was 
equally  divided,  and  how  was  it  disposed  of?  By  the  casting 
vote  of  the  Vice- President  of  the  United  States,  a  citizen  of  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania !  * 

And  now  let  me  ask,  after  an  experience  of  two  years,  who  is 
helped  by  this  tariff  of  1846,  —  what  portions  of  the  country  ? 
Pray,  is  South  Carolina  helped  by  it  ?  It  is  in  fact  a  measure 
dictated  by  South  Carolina ;  it  is  a  measure  in  which  the  South 
took  the  initiative,  and  led  off,  and  the  North,  as  has  been  too 
much  its  wont,  followed.  There  are  men  of  the  North  who  see 
the  sun  in  the  South,  and  they  think  they  see  all  other  light 
there.  Now,  is  South  Carolina  any  richer  for  this  tariff?  She 
is  a  great  cotton-growing  State.  Now  that  the  tariff  is  passed, 
now  that  we  have  free  trade,  said  these  friends  of  the  new  tariff, 
we  shall  see  Carolina  looming  up  like  one  of  the  Southern  con 
stellations.  She  will  become  rich ;  she  is  enfranchised  and  set 
at  liberty ;  hereafter  she  will  take  a  great  lead,  and  her  cotton 
will  enrich  the  people. 

Pray,  what  has  been  the  result  ?  When  these  glowing  sen 
tences  were  on  the  lips  of  her  eloquent  men,  her  cotton  was  from 
ten  to  eleven  cents  a  pound.  Those  words  had  hardly  cooled, 
when,  under  this  protection  by  free  trade,  and  under  this  admi- 

*  Mr.  Dallas. 


160       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

rable  tariff  of  1846,  which  put  down  all  other  abominable  tariffs, 
her  cotton  is  down  to  five  and  a  half  and  six  cents  a  pound. 

And  Pennsylvania !  Why,  Gentlemen,  it  happened  to  me  to 
be  in  Pennsylvania  in  the  fall  of  1844,  before  the  election  took 
place.  I  addressed  multitudes  of  people  in  Philadelphia,  at 
Valley  Forge,  and  Pottsville,  in  the  midst  of  the  iron  and 
coal  of  that  region,  and  in  other  places;  and  what  did  I  see 
there,  all  along  the  road,  as  I  went  from  Philadelphia  to  the 
mines  of  Pottsville  ?  I  saw  flags,  holding  out  the  motto,  "  Polk, 
Dallas,  and  the  Tariff  of  '42,"  and  I  heard  it  again  and  again 
said,  that  Mr.  Polk  was  a  greater  friend  to  the  productive  in 
dustry  of  Pennsylvania  than  the  Whig  candidate !  *  I  may 
venture  to  say  that  all  expectation  founded  upon  this  assurance 
nas  failed  now,  in  a  manner  not  a  little  mortifying.  I  regarded 
it  then,  and  I  regard  it  now,  as  false  evidence,  —  the  use  of  false 
signals  and  false  tokens.  The  representations  made  then  to  the 
people  of  Pennsylvania,  if  it  had  been  a  case  of  jurisprudence 
and  municipal  trial,  would,  I  think,  have  enabled  a  prosecuting 
officer  to  frame  an  indictment  for  false  tokens  and  false  pre 
tences.  It  is  right  and  fit  there  should  be  a  new  trial,  now 
that  the  false  evidence  is  made  known ;  and  I  think  the  people 
of  Pennsylvania  are  ready  for  a  new  trial.  It  is  proper  to  try 
the  case  over  again,  when  the  fraud  is  discovered. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  passing  for  a  moment  from  this,  I  have 
already  said,  that  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of  the  country  to  elect  a 
Whig  President  and  a  Whig  Congress,  this  existing  law  will 
either  be  essentially  modified  or  altogether  repealed ;  and  it  is 
just  as  true,  that,  if  there  be  no  election  of  a  Whig  President,  it 
will  be  continued.  So,  after  all,  Gentlemen,  the  support  which 
we  give  to  men  should  rest  on  our  opinion  as  to  what  will  be 
their  measures.  Public  men  are  agents.  One  class  of  public 
men  will  do  certain  things,  and  support  or  pass  one  class  of 
public  measures,  and  another  class  of  public  men  will  do  other 
things,  and  support  or  pass  another  class  of  public  measures ; 
and  as  we  like  or  dislike  the  measures,  so  must  we  judge  of  the 
men. 

While  I  say  that  General  Cass  will  undoubtedly  uphold  the 
bill  to  which  he  gave  an  efficient  support  in  1846,  and  to  which 

*  Mr.  Clay. 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  161 

he  stands  pledged,  by  his  adherence  to  the  Baltimore  platform 
of  June  last,  I  am  bound  to  state,  at  the  same  time,  that  an 
other  gentleman,  whose  name  has  been  mentioned  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Presidency,  is  in  exactly  the  same  situation.  I 
have  said  that,  if  Mr.  Van  Buren  is  elected  President  of  the 
United  States,  he  will  not  repudiate  his  own  sub-treasury.  I 
say  now,  that,  if  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  unless 
he  repudiates  himself,  he  will  adhere  to  the  tariff  of  1846.  I 
have,  Gentlemen,  some  short  documents  touching  this  point 
which  I  will  read.  The  first  is  the  resolution  adopted  at  Buffalo, 
respecting  revenue,  protection,  and  customs. 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  the  obligations  of  honor  and  patriotism  require 
the  earliest  practicable  payment  of  the  national  debt ;  and  we  are  there 
fore  hi  favor  of  such  a  tariff  of  duties  as  will  raise  revenue  adequate  to 
defray  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  federal  government,  and  to  pay 
annual  instalments  of  our  debt  and  the  interest  thereon." 

That  is  the  philosophy  and  the  extent  of  the  protection  and 
encouragement  to  domestic  industry  set  forth  by  the  Buffalo 
Platform.  Now,  Gentlemen,  we  see  that  the  penman  who  drew 
up  that  elaborate  riddle  was  very  much  afraid  of  treading  on 
Mr.  Van  Buren's  toes ;  because  here  is  another  document,  a 
line  longer.  It  is  a  letter  from  Mr.  Van  Buren,  written  by  him 
soon  after  the  passage  of  the  tariff  of  1842,  the  Whig  tariff,  and 
is  as  follows :  — 

"Albany,  Feb.  28,  1843. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  thank  you  kindly  for  your  friendly  letter.  I  have 
at  no  time  nor  anywhere  hesitated  to  express  my  decided  disapproba 
tion  of  the  tariff  act  of  the  last  session,  as  well  in  respect  to  the  prin 
ciple  on  which  it  is  founded,  as  to  its  details.  In  good  time  you  will 
have  my  views  in  respect  to  that  and  other  subjects  before  the  public. 
In  the  mean  time  believe  me  to  be,  very  sincerely,  your  friend  and 
obedient  servant, 

"  MARTIN  VAN  BUREN." 

Those  "  other  views "  have  not  come,  unless  they  were  con 
tained  in  this  paper.* 

Nevertheless,  Gentlemen,  our  controversy  is  not  with  Mr.  Van 
Buren.  We  stand  where  we  have  for  years.  Our  controversy 

*  The  Buffalo  resolution. 

VOL.  IV.  —  II 


1 62      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

is  with  that  political  party  who  have  been,  and  who  are,  our 
political  opponents ;  who  are  numerous  and  powerful ;  men  of 
great  strength,  long  foresight,  and  calculation ;  who  have  con 
trived,  I  had  almost  said,  to  govern  us ;  at  least,  they  have  con 
trived  to  exercise,  for  a  long  time,  a  great  power  and  influence 
over  the  country.  They  are  they  with  whom  we  have  to  deal 
hereafter.  Let  us  see  what  is  their  opinion,  what  they  mean  to 
do  on  the  great  question  of  American  industry.  They  said  at 
the  Baltimore  Convention,  which  nominated  Mr.  Cass,  — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  fruits  of  the  great  political  triumph  of  1844,  which 
elected  James  K.  Polk  and  George  M.  Dallas  President  and  Vice-Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  have  fulfilled  the  hopes  of  the  democracy  of 
the  Union,  in  defeating  the  declared  purposes  of  their  opponents  to 
create  a  national  bank  ;  in  preventing  the  corrupt  and  unconstitutional 
distribution  of  the  land  proceeds,  from  the  common  treasury  of  the  Un 
ion,  for  local  purposes ;  in  protecting  the  currency  and  the  labor  of  the 
country  from  ruinous  fluctuations,  and  guarding  the  money  of  the  peo 
ple  for  the  use  of  the  people,  by  the  establishment  of  the  constitutional 
treasury ;  in  the  noble  impulse  given  to  the  cause  of  free  trade,  by  the 
repeal  of  the  tariff*  of  1842,  and  the  creation  of  the  more  equal,  honest, 
and  productive  tariff  of  1846  ;  and  that,  in  our  opinion,  it  would  be  a 
fatal  error  to  weaken  the  bands  of  political  organization  by  which  these 
great  reforms  have  been  achieved,  and  risk  them  in  the  hands  of  their 
known  adversaries,  with  whatever  delusive  appeals  they  may  solicit  our 
surrender  of  that  vigilance,  which  is  the  only  safeguard  of  liberty." 

So  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  the  extracts  from  his  speech  which 
I  have  read,  has  but  recited  by  rote  the  doctrine  of  the  party, 
that  this  sub-treasury  is  the  panacea  which  is  to  remove  all  the 
evils  which  press  upon  the  productive  industry  of  the  country. 
The  manufactures  of  the  country  are  to  find  their  most  efficient 
support  in  the  influence  of  the  sub-treasury,  and  the  sub-treasury 
has  kept  and  will  keep,  according  to  them,  the  money  concerns 
of  the  country  free  from  all  evil.  Though  always  opposed  by 
the  Northern  members  of  that  party,  whether  of  New  England 
or  other  States,  the  Whigs  succeeded  in  1842,  and  as  Whigs 
made  what  we  thought  a  good  tariff.  We  do  also  remember 
that  the  Southern  Whigs  helped  in  that  which  the  Northern 
people  of  the  other  party  did  not.  We  had  the  intrepid  Senator 
of  Maine,  Mr.  Evans;  but  where  were  other  votes  from  that 
State  ?  Whom  had  we  from  New  Hampshire,  though  she  has 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  163 

been  benefited  by  the  uses  to  which  her  vast  water  power  has 
been  applied,  against  the  policy  of  her  government,  and  against 
all  her  opinions  upon  the  subject  ?  Yet  Southern  Whigs  helped 
us.  And  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Northern  Whigs  and  Massa 
chusetts  Whigs,  who  stood  by  us  in  1842,  in  Congress  and  out 
of  Congress,  and  before  1842  and  since  1842,  to  uphold  this 
cause  of  domestic  industry,  to  resist  the  sub-treasury  and  all  its 
influences,  —  I  am  sorry  to  find  them  now  leaving  us,  quitting 
as,  saying  good  bye  to  us,  and  going  where  I  think  they  will 
have  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  as  much  applause  of  the  tariff 
of  1846  as  they  will  wish.  These  Whigs  of  ours,  of  whom  I  al 
ways  speak  with  respect,  because  for  some  of  them  I  have  the 
deepest  regard,  and  I  speak  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger  when 
I  allude  to  them,  they  say  they  do  not  mean  to  sustain  the  pres 
ent  tariff;  but  what  sort  of  an  argument  is  this  ?  Is  not  every 
man  held  by  the  rules  of  law  and  common  sense,  and  the 
understanding  of  all  men,  as  meaning  to  do  that  which  is  the 
necessary  tendency  of  his  conduct  ?  If  his  acts  lead  to  a  certain 
result  known  to  him,  and  visible  before  his  eyes,  and  he  does 
those  acts,  is  he  free  to  say,  I  did  not  mean  to  do  it,  —  it  was 
not  my  purpose  ? 

Now,  Gentlemen,  let  us  see  how  this  policy  of  the  administra 
tion,  the  united  operation  of  the  sub-treasury  and  the  tariff  of 
1846,  has  operated  to  maintain  the  prosperity  of  the  manufac 
turers.  Here  I  can  only  instance  a  few  things ;  and,  so  far  as  I 
am  concerned,  and  this  meeting  is  concerned,  they  must  take 
them  as  specimens  of  the  whole.  I  begin  with  wool  and  wool 
lens,  a  great  Northern  interest.  The  production  of  wool  and 
the  manufacture  of  wool  is  a  vast  interest  in  the  Northern  and 
Middle  States.  It  extends  through  Virginia,  Ohio,  the  Western 
States,  Pennsylvania,  and  certain  parts  of  New  York  and  New 
England ;  but  the  manufacture  of  it  is  established  principally  in 
the  New  England  States.  Now,  I  take  a  few  instances  of  this. 
Here  is  a  woollen  establishment  in  our  neighborhood,  at  Low 
ell,  called  the  Middlesex  Mills.  Within  a  very  short  time,  such 
has  been  the  depression  of  that  interest,  and  such  the  over 
whelming  effect  of  manufactures  from  abroad,  that  eight  hundred 
hands  have  been  discharged ;  and  others,  if  not  all,  will  be  dis 
charged  soon.  Wages  are  reduced  twenty  per  cent,  and  the 
price  of  wool  is  reduced  at  least  one  third 


164      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

There  are  counties  in  Pennsylvania  who  will  think  of  this 
upon  the  7th  of  November.  Washington,  Greene,  and  other 
counties  in  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  may  well  take  it 
into  consideration,  that  this  tariff  and  sub-treasury  have  pro 
tected  them  by  depressing  the  price  of  their  main  commodity  at 
least  one  third.  It  may  not  be  amiss  for  our  neighbors  of 
Maine  and  Vermont,  as  well  as  New  Hampshire,  to  notice  that 
also.  A  respectable  gentleman,  well  known  to  you,  this  after 
noon  placed  in  my  hands  a  statement,  according  to  which  forty 
woollen  mills,  known  to  him,  have  within  the  last  four  months 
all  stopped  working  from  the  pressure  of  the  money  market 
and  the  influx  of  foreign  manufactures,  and  they  have  dis 
charged  nearly  three  thousand  hands ,  and  greatly  reduced  the 
wages  of  the  remainder. 

There  is  a  singular  fact  connected  with  the  woollen  manufac 
ture  in  the  United  States,  I  believe  not  generally  known.  A 
great  portion  of  the  imported  article  is  from  France  and  the  Con 
tinent.  I  believe  that  it  is  not  generally  known  that  France 
pays  a  bounty  upon  the  exportation  of  woollen  manufactures, 
to  the  amount  of  fourteen  per  cent.  It  was  formerly  nine 
per  cent.  Belgium  paid  formerly  a  lower  duty;  but  Belgian 
manufacturers  now  send  their  goods  through  France,  and  thus 
all  these  great  importations  of  woollens  come  to  the  United 
States  under  a  bounty  equal  to  half  the  tax  imposed  upon  them 
by  our  government,  so  that  our  tariff  upon  woollens  is  rendered 
null  to  one  half  its  full  extent,  by  bounties  paid  upon  exported 
woollens  abroad.  Five  sixths,  and  some  say  nine  tenths,  of 
all  these  fabrics  come  to  the  United  States. 

With  respect  to  cotton  I  have  nothing  to  say,  excepting 
that  I  do  not  understand,  and  have  not  heard,  that  any  estab 
lishments  of  that  sort  are  supposed  to  be  working  at  a  profit. 
One  or  two  other  articles  I  mention  as  belonging  to  us  at  the 
North,  and  one  of  these  is  hemp,  and  the  manufacture  of  hemp. 
I  remember,  when  this  tariff  was  under  consideration  in  the 
Senate,  a  member  addressed  the  Senate  particularly  on  that  sub 
ject.  The  tariff  taxes  the  raw  material  higher  than  it  taxes  its 
manufacture.  It  seems  to  direct  its  artillery  particularly  against 
American  labor,  for  the  result  of  foreign  labor  comes  cheap, 
while  the  material  for  American  labor  is  dear. 

I  have  spoken  of  labor  as  one  of  the  great  elements  of  our  so- 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  165 

ciety,  the  great  substantial  interest  on  which  we  all  stand,  —  not 
feudal  service,  not  predial  toil,  not  the  irksome  drudgery  by  one 
race  of  mankind,  subjected  on  account  of  color,  to  the  control  of 
another  race  of  mankind;  but  labor,  intelligent,  manly,  inde 
pendent,  thinking  and  acting  for  itself,  earning  its  own  wages, 
accumulating  those  wages  into  capital,  becoming  a  part  of  soci 
ety  and  of  our  social  system,  educating  childhood,  maintaining 
worship,  claiming  the  right  of  the  elective  franchise,  and  help 
ing  to  uphold  the  great  fabric  of  the  State.  That  is  American 
labor,  and  I  confess  that  all  my  sympathies  are  with  it,  and  my 
voice,  until  I  am  dumb,  will  be  for  it. 

There  is  another  subject  to  which  my  attention  has  been  a 
little  turned,  not  exactly  professional,  and  yet  not  altogether  re 
mote  from  the  circle  of  my  habits ;  I  mean  the  fisheries.  To  the 
extent  of  the  interest,  I  understand  that  the  cod  and  mackerel 
fisheries  of  New  England  are  as  great  sufferers  under  this  tariff 
as  any  other  pursuit ;  because  it  has  reduced  the  duties  upon 
both,  and  because  there  are  certain  advantages  belonging  to  the 
British  colonies,  who  live  nearer  the  ground ;  and  the  result  is, 
as  it  was  not  formerly,  that  both  codfish  and  mackerel  are  im 
ported  to  a  great  extent.  Fifty  thousand  barrels  of  mackerel 
last  year  were  imported  into  this  State,  and  one  hundred  thou 
sand  more  into  the  United  States,  amounting  to  no  small  ag 
gregate.  Although  there  is,  in  the  tariff  now  existing,  a  right  of 
reexportation,  which  seems  to  be  plausible,  inasmuch  as  it 
may  be  supposed  that  this  commodity  is  destined  to  other  ports 
as  well  as  our  own,  there  is  still  a  great  disadvantage  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States ;  because,  when  there  was  no  reexpor 
tation  or  debenture,  they  commanded  the  whole  of  our  own  mar 
ket  ;  and  to  command  the  whole  of  our  own  market  is  a  greater 
advantage  to  them,  than  to  have  the  right  of  reexportation  to  oth 
er  markets.  My  brethren,  if  they  will  allow  me  to  call  them  so, 
the  fraternity  of  the  line,  if  there  are  any  here  from  Cape  Ann, 
Duxbury,  or  Plymouth,  will  understand  it  a  great  deal  better 
than  I  can  explain  it. 

So  much,  Gentlemen,  for  a  few  of  the  instances  that  I 
have  ventured  to  select  of  the  effects  of  this  applauded  tariff 
of  1846  upon  ihe  fortunes  of  Massachusetts  and  the  Northern 
States. 

And  now  go  a  little  farther  south,  to  the  interests  which  it 


1 66      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

affects  in  the  Middle  States,  and  especially  in  the  State  of  Penn 
sylvania.  The  great  products  of  Pennsylvania  are  iron  and 
coal.  I  propose  to  say  a  few  words  only  upon  the  first,  upon 
her  iron.  If  there  be  any  duty  in  political  regulation,  if  there  be 
any  duty  in  society,  which  regards  the  great  interests  of  the 
country,  surely  it  must  be  that  which  protects  the  great  masses 
of  men  in  their  daily  employ.  I  know  what  duties  belong  to 
government  in  the  first  stages  of  civilization ;  they  are  confined, 
generally,  to  the  repelling  foreign  invasions  and  maintaining  in 
ternal  peace.  But  as  civilization  proceeds,  the  objects  of  govern 
ment  become  more  various,  —  to  regulate  commerce  and  a  hun 
dred  internal  interests,  and  to  foster  manufactures  to  a  reason 
able  extent ;  and  this  goes  on  just  as  far  as  civilization  extends. 
Now  I  suppose  in  Pennsylvania  there  is  no  one  of  the  manufac 
turing  interests  which  involves  the  daily  bread  of  the  people  be 
yond  the  iron  interest.  We  have  heard  something  of  the  sound 
of  the  hammer  on  those  anvils  within  the  last  fortnight.  When 
I  was  in  Pennsylvania  in  the  fall  of  1844,  I  found  every  body 
attached  to  that  great  interest  and  to  its  support.  The  question 
was,  Will  Mr.  Polk  support  it?  Will  Mr.  Dallas  support  it? 
Every  body  said,  Yes.  Who  doubts  Mr.  Dallas,  from  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  ?  Who  doubts  Mr.  Polk,  with  the  letter  before 
him,  which  he  wrote,  stating  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  gov 
ernment?  Cannot  we  believe  him?  Will  he  impose  upon 
us  Pennsylvanians  ?  Will  he  deceive  us  of  the  great  Demo 
cratic  State  of  Pennsylvania,  which  casts  twenty-six  electoral 
votes  ?  Dare  he,  or  his  friends,  come  before  us  with  misrepre 
sentations  ?  They  yielded  their  confidence,  and  gave  their  great 
vote  to  Mr.  Polk  and  Mr.  Dallas.  It  made  Mr.  Polk  President, 
and  Mr.  Dallas  Vice- President ;  and  when  this  question  came 
up,  Mr.  Dallas  himself  in  the  chair,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
made  Vice-President  by  the  votes  of  Pennsylvanians,  when  the 
vote  on  the  tariff  was  equally  divided  upon  the  question  of  pros 
trating  the  tariff  of  1842,  he  gave  his  casting  vote  in  the  affirm 
ative,  and  settled  the  question.  The  tariff  of  1842  was  abol 
ished,  and  this  tariff  of  1846  established  in  its  stead  by  his  cast 
ing  vote. 

Mr.  Buchanan,  in  the  speech  to  which  I  have  already  more 
than  once  alluded,  tells  his  good  friends  in  Pennsylvania,  that  it 
may,  perhaps,  be  in  their  power  to  turn  this  pending  election ; 


George   M.    Dallas 

From  a  Photograph  from  life,  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  F.  Gutekunst,  Philadelphia 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  167 

and  he  calls  upon  the  Democracy  of  the  State  to  do  so.  I  am 
willing  to  take  him  upon  that  issue.  Let  Pennsylvania  give  her 
casting  vote ;  but  let  her  give  it  herself,  by  her  own  strong 
hand,  and  not  by  others.  If  at  the  polls,  after  the  free  discussion 
and  experience  of  the  past,  Pennsylvania  votes  with  her  vast 
multitudes  of  intelligent  people,  and  gives  the  CASTING  vote  for 
General  Cass  and  General  Butler,  then  so  be  it.  Let  her  take 
the  consequence.  Thank  Heaven,  nobody  but  herself  holds  that 
casting  vote  at  the  present  day.  I  hope  she  will  give  it ;  I  hope 
she  will  consider  it ;  and  I  hope  she  will  give  it,  when  she  does 
give  it,  decisively  and  emphatically.  Therefore  I  would  say,  if 
I  could  be  heard  by  her,  from  the  Delaware  to  the  Ohio,  from 
New  Jersey  to  Maryland,  —  I  would  say  to  her,  that  now  the 
people  of  the  United  States  look  to  see  how  Pennsylvania  WILL 

HERSELF  GIVE  HER  OWN  CASTING  VOTE. 

I  will  give  a  few  facts  in  relation  to  the  great  interests  of 
Pennsylvania.  I  understand  that,  after  the  law  of  1842  was 
passed,  sixteen  or  seventeen  rolling-mills  were  erected  to  make 
railroad  iron,  a  business  then  unknown  in  this  country.  Two 
thirds  of  them  have  stopped,  and  stopped  for  what?  Forty- 
five  hundred  workmen  have  been  discharged.  Miners'  wages 
have  been  known  to  be  high,  and  the  discharge  of  people  from 
these  mills  for  making  railroad  iron  has  thrown  out  of  employ 
ment  men  earning  together  $  1,800,000  a  year  Labor,  there 
fore,  to  that  amount,  in  these  railroad  iron  mills,  has  been 
thrown  out  of  employ.  The  imports  of  iron,  since  the  new 
tariff,  are  enormous.  All  know  that.  It  is  said  that  orders 
have  been  sent  out  amounting  to  three  millions.  We  shall  see 
the  difference  by  a  short  comparison  of  the  imports  of  1848  and 
of  1846:  — 

1848.  1846. 

Bar  iron, 13,690  tons.  6,600  tons. 

Pig  iron,         ....       24,000     «  7,716     « 

Sheets,  hoops,  rods,  and  nails,    .  75,500     "  20,428     « 

And  here  the  increase  is  in  articles  of  the  highest  manufacture, 
that  is,  articles  in  which  the  greatest  quantity  of  labor  is  incor 
porated  ;  for  there  seems  to  be  in  this  policy  a  bloodhound  scent 
to  follow  labor,  and  to  run  it  down,  and  to  seize  and  strangle  it 
wherever  it  may  be  found.  Sheet  iron,  and  those  species  of  iron 


1 68      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

requiring  the  most  labor,  all  come  in  cheapest  under  this  system. 
As  to  some  of  these  mills,  and  especially  one  at  Danville  in 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  which  cost  the  proprietors  seven  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars,  which  they  paid  in  to  the  last  cent,  it  is 
wholly  stopped. 

I  will  only  add,  that,  if  we  mean  to  keep  up  American  labor 
under  these  operations,  we  must  hold  to  protecting  our  industry 
from  the  competition  of  foreign  labor.  Labor  abroad  is  cheap, 
because  the  people  live  poor.  English  iron  costs  $  8.02  per  ton 
for  wages ;  while  American  iron,  the  result  of  American  labor, 
costs  $  15.82,  because  American  labor  means  to  live  well,  means 
to  earn  enough  to  educate  its  children,  and  to  perform  the  du 
ties  of  a  citizen.  Therefore  I  insist  that  it  shall  have  wages, 
and  high  wages.  We  know  that  some  others  of  these  iron 
works  are  about  to  stop.  The  evil  is  not  confined  to  this  branch 
of  industry.  The  wages  of  handicraft  in  Philadelphia  are  also 
cut  down  one  third ;  I  mean  the  hand-loom  weavers,  and  fifteen 
hundred  hands  have  been  thrown  out  of  employment  in  this 
branch  of  industry  alone. 

In  connection  with  the  tariff,  in  its  operation  upon  these  ne 
cessary  articles,  which  I  suppose  it  is  the  duty  of  our  govern 
ment  to  protect,  I  wish  to  advert  to  a  fact  or  matter,  I  believe, 
not  very  much  known.  You  know,  Gentlemen,  that  the  present 
tariff  act  was  passed  on  the  30th  of  July,  1846.  There  seems 
to  have  been  an  apprehension  that  a  state  of  things  might  arise 
under  which  there  would  be  gross  undervaluation,  because  all 
duties  were  ad  valorem,  and  there  was  no  specific  duty  laid 
upon  any  thing.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  seems  to  have 
partaken  of  this  apprehension.  It  would  appear,  that,  under  the 
influence  of  that  fear,  some  few  days  afterwards,  in  the  course 
of  the  same  session,  a  bill  was  before  Congress  making  the  usu 
al  appropriations  for  civil  and  diplomatic  services ;  and  in  that 
bill,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  was  in 
serted  a  section,  not  germain  to  the  matter  of  the  bill,  but  in 
close  connection  with  this  very  tariff  bill  before  us.  It  pro 
vides,  — 

"  Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  in  addition  to  the  assistant 
appraisers  authorized  by  law  at  the  port  of  New  York,  there  may  be  ap 
pointed,  in  the  mode  now  prescribed  by  law,  one  additional  assistant  ap 
praiser  at  said  port,  at  a  salary,  as  heretofore  established,  of  fifteen  hun- 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  169 

dred  dollars  per  annum,  to  be  paid  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury 
not  otherwise  appropriated  :  Provided,  said  salary  shall  not  commence, 
or  appointment  take  effect,  prior  to  the  30th  of  November  next ;  and 
in  appraising  all  goods,  at  any  port  of  the  United  States,  heretofore 
subjected  to  specific  duties,  but  upon  which  ad  valorem  duties  are  im 
posed  by  the  act  of  the  30th  of  July  last,  entitled  c  An  Act  reducing 
the  duty  on  imports  and  for  other  purposes,'  reference  shall  be  had 
to  values  and  invoices  of  similar  goods  imported  during  the  last  fis 
cal  year,  under  such  general  and  uniform  regulations  for  the  preven 
tion  of  fraud  or  undervaluation  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury." 

That  is  to  say,  that  if  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  chose,  he 
might,  upon  any  such  goods  as  had  heretofore  paid  a  specific 
duty,  impose  a  value  that  should  be  ascertained,  not  by  the  ap 
praisers,  but  by  the  invoices  that  accompanied  the  like  article  in 
the  last  fiscal  year.  Now,  if  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had 
seen  fit  to  carry  this  section  into  operation,  he  might  have  kept 
the  duties  upon  iron  nearly  as  high  as  they  now  are.  In  point 
of  fact  I  learn,  that  in  November  of  last  year  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  did  send  instructions  to  the  appraisers  of  this  port 
to  look  at  their  invoices,  but  never  gave  any  direction  whatever 
making  it  imperative  upon  them  to  adopt  the  value  stated  in 
the  invoices  of  the  preceding  year.  And  from  inquiry  at  the 
custom-house,  through  an  intelligent  source,  I  learn  that  to  be 
the  result.  In  1845,  the  usual  invoice  price  of  iron  was  £  10 
sterling ;  now  I  believe  it  is  about  «£  5  6s.  Then  it  was  in  the 
power,  and  it  is  now  in  the  power,  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  if  he  sees  fit,  to  say  that  all  iron  shall  be  taken  ac 
cording  to  the  invoice  of  1845,  and  pay  ad  valorem  duty  accord 
ingly,  instead  of  being  taken  according  to  the  invoice  of  1848. 
I  learn  that  the  difference  will  be  just  this.  Taking  the  value  of 
iron  according  to  the  invoices  of  1845,  and  assessing  the  ad 
valorem  duty  which  the  present  tariff  provides,  the  duty  would 
amount  to  $  15  per  ton,  while  by  the  recent  invoices  it  would 
amount  to  but  $  9  per  ton.  So  that  at  all  times  it  has  been  in 
the  power  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  keep  the  duty  on 
iron  from  falling  below  $  15  per  ton.  I  say  nothing  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  should  have  discharged  his  duties.  The 
probability  is,  that  he  has  found  the  revenue  from  the  custom 
house  sufficient  to  answer  his  purposes  and  has  not  therefore 
seen  fit  to  enhance  this  duty. 


170      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

I  have  just  adverted  to  certain  interests  affected  by  the  present 
tariff,  and  a  few  more  words  remain  for  me  to  say  respecting  the 
more  general  question.  And  I  say,  if  these  hinderances  to  in 
dividual  pursuits,  individual  occupations,  and  individual  labor 
had  not  arisen  or  were  not  imposed  by  this  tariff,  yet  the  tariff, 
such  as  it  is,  is  and  must  be  destructive  to  the  great  interests  of 
the  whole  people,  whether  manufacturers  or  not.  I  say  that, 
because  I  see  that  we  cannot  stand  for  any  length  of  time  this 
overwhelming  importation  of  foreign  commodities,  without  an 
utter  derangement  of  the  currency  of  the  country.  That  I  take 
to  be  the  great  and  general  question  after  all,  which  embraces 
all  interests,  affects  all  men,  and  extends  everywhere  throughout 
the  whole  United  States.  Now  let  us  look  at  some  calculations 
upon  this  subject.  The  duties  on  imports  for  the  year  now  cur 
rent,  that  is,  beginning  with  the  1st  of  July  last,  and  ending 
with  the  1st  of  July  next,  have  been  estimated  at  the  treasury 
as  likely  to  amount  to  $  32,000,000.  This  is  not  an  improbable 
estimate,  because,  for  the  year  ending  on  the  1st  of  July  last, 
they  amounted  to  thirty-one  millions  and  some  odd  thousand 
dollars.  Now  if  this  be  so,  taking  the  rates  of  duties  as  they 
now  stand,  to  yield  a  revenue  of  $  32,000,000,  the  present  tariff 
requires  an  import  of  $  155,000,000.  We  must  import,  there 
fore,  to  the  amount  of  $  155,000,000,  if  we  expect  to  get  thirty- 
two  millions  of  revenue,  according  to  the  established  rates. 
Now  let  me  show  you  how  this  is ;  and  I  will  give  you  a  state 
ment  made  up  partly  of  these  importations,  and  partly  of  the 
importations  and  exportations  together. 

"  The  import  of  specie  during  the  year  ending  30th  June,  1847,  was 
824,121,289. 

"  Under  the  tariff  of  1842  the  imports  (exclusive  of  specie  and  reex 
portation)  were  for  the  year  ending  30th  June, 

Net  revenue. 

1844  ....    $96,390,548   yielding  $26,183,570 

1845  .         .         .         105,599,541    '      "          29,528,112 

1846  ....     110,048,859         "          26,712,667 
Average  of  3  years,         104,013,000         "          26,631,750 

or  25.57  per  cent. 
"  Under  tariff  of  1846, 

1847  ....     116,258,310         "          23,747,864 
than  20|  per  cent.,  a  loss  of  five  millions  of  revenue. 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  171 

"It  is  thus  quite  obvious,  that  under  the  tariff  of  1842  we  should 
have  derived  more  revenue  from  a  less  importation,  and  left  the  bal 
ance  to  remain  with  us  in  the  form  of  specie. 

"  The  revenue  of  the  year  ending  30th  June,  1848,  is  reported  to 
have  been  831,700,000,  which,  at  the  same  rate,  requires  an  import 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  millions.  The  rate  of  import  has  ap 
parently  continued  about  the  same. 

"  The  export  of  specie  commenced  in  October,  1847,  and  has  contin 
ued  without  intermission  for  upwards  of  a  year,  and  cannot  amount  to 
less  than  fifteen  or  sixteen  millions. 

"  Our  domestic  exports,  year  ending  Jan.  1846,  .  $  101,718,000 
"  "  1847,  the  year  of  famine,  150,000,000 

being  an  excess  hi  bread-stuffs  and  other  provisions  of  forty-one  millions 
over  1846." 

Such  is  the  statement.  The  general  opinion  is,  that  the  ex 
portation  of  grain  cannot  continue  at  this  rate.  It  has  already 
fallen  off.  This  importation  must  stop  somewhere,  for  how  are 
we  to  pay  for  it  ?  We  export  cotton,  and  this  year  our  crop  is 
very  great,  but  the  price  is  very  low.  We  have  an  export  of 
provisions,  but  far  less  than  a  year  or  two  ago,  and  this  export 
must  fall  off.  We  send  the  stocks  of  the  United  States  abroad 
to  all  who  will  buy,  but  that  cannot  last ;  and  yet  the  specie  is 
constantly  going  out  of  the  country.  Ten  millions  have  been 
sent  abroad,  I  understand,  since  January  last.  How  are  we  to 
get  over  this  ?  And  of  what  is  left  under  the  effect  of  this  im 
portation,  the  sub-treasury  locks  up  what  would  sustain  a  circu 
lation  of  fifteen  or  twenty  millions.  I  must  suppose  this  state 
of  the  tariff  and  the  sub-treasury  always  going  on,  and  always 
found  together,  like  Castor  and  Pollux,  under  a  Democratic  ad 
ministration.  And  who  is  benefited  by  it  ?  It  is  all  from  the 
unwillingness  of  party  men  to  acknowledge  themselves  in  error. 
I  appeal  to  you.  You  are  all  acquainted  with  the  state  of  com 
merce  and  business.  Do  you  know  twenty  men,  active  in  busi 
ness,  sensible  men,  who  do  not  wish  the  sub-treasury  anywhere 
but  where  it  is  ?  Do  you  know  twenty  mechanics  and  manu 
facturers,  men  of  sense  and  industry,  who  do  not  wish  the  tariff 
of  1846  had  never  been  born  ?  What  is  it  that  keeps  it  in  being 
but  prejudice,  party  pride,  and  obstinacy?  Gentlemen,  I  have 
no  right  to  speak  here  to  members  of  a  party  to  which  I  do  not 
belong,  but  yet  I  would  venture  to  beseech  them  to  consider 


172      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

whether  there  may  not  be  some  considerations,  —  whether  our 
own  daily  business,  the  maintenance  of  our  wives  and  fami 
lies,  the  securing  of  a  competence  for  a  comfortable  old  age,  — 
whether  these  considerations  may  not  be  of  more  importance 
than  that  we  should  learn  by  rote,  and  recite  by  rote,  every 
dogma  of  the  party  to  which  we  are  attached  ? 

I  have  spoken  of  the  sub-treasury  as  I  understand  it,  of  its 
present  and  its  future  operations,  and  I  have  spoken  of  this  tariff. 
If  it  shall  remain  unmodified  and  unremoved,  it  is  one  consola 
tion  to  know  that  it  is  not  because  we  have  favored  it.  All  the 
pursuits  of  society  are  certain  to  be  affected  by  it ;  and  looking 
to  the  present  state  of  the  country,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  slight 
interest  to  inquire  whether  the  hands  into  which  we  are  now 
about,  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  to  commit  the  destinies  of 
the  nation,  —  whether  they  are  men  who  believe  that  our  true 
greatness  and  true  glory  consist  in  a  conservative  policy,  in 
maintaining  ourselves  where  we  are,  and  in  upholding  ourselves 
in  the  view  of  the  world,  as  a  steady,  just,  enlightened,  manly, 
and  not  encroaching  republic ;  or  whether  we  commit  them  to 
the  hands  of  those  who  consider  that  our  "  manifest  destiny " 
is  war,  aggression,  turmoil,  acquisition,  annexation,  and  carrying 
our  system,  willing  or  unwilling,  to  the  fullest  extent  of  our 
power,  to  every  land,  by  the  bayonet  and  the  sword. 

Gentlemen,  I  think  that  the  policy  of  the  candidate  proposed 
by  our  opponents,  and  of  those  who  support  him  most  vigor 
ously,  is  of  a  dangerous  character.  I  think  that,  in  looking  back 
to  the  past,  we  see  that  he  and  they  are  men  who  have  opposed 
the  adjustment  of  the  Oregon  question,  and  the  settlement  of 
the  Northeastern  Boundary.  And  one  thing  further  strikes  me, 
that,  while  there  are  of  this  school  of  politicians  men  whose 
views  were  heard  in  either  house  of  Congress,  and  through  the 
columns  of  all  the  newspapers,  big  with  taunts,  threats,  and  defi 
ance  to  England,  they  are  the  men  that,  in  all  our  own  legisla 
tion  upon  tariffs  and  currency,  act  exactly  the  part  that  a  British 
minister  would  most  desire  they  should. 

I  know  that  confidence  is  to  be  placed  by  man  in  man.  I  feel 
the  conviction  that  I  must  repose  trust  in  somebody's  hands  to 
stand  at  the  head  of  the  nation,  to  uphold  our  essential  inter 
ests,  and  to  preserve  the  honor  and  peace  of  the  country.  I  have 
made  up  my  mind  and  I  give  that  trust  to  the  Whig  nomina- 


Speech  in  Faneuil  Hall  173 

tion,  to  GENERAL  TAYLOR.  I  think  he  is  bound  up  and  wound 
up  in  his  own  principles  and  in  his  own  declaration.  I  think 
with  Mr.  Buchanan,  that  he  is  a  Whig,  and  I  think  he  will  be 
elected  by  the  Whigs.  I  think  he  will  surround  himself,  as  Mr. 
Buchanan  says,  with  a  Whig  Cabinet,  and  I  believe  he  will  hon 
estly  and  faithfully  adopt  and  pursue  Whig  principles  and  Whig 
measures 

Now  I  know  that,  on  a  certain  other  topic,  great  fears  are  in 
spired  elsewhere,  as  well  as  in  this  State,  in  order  to  effect  the 
election.  I  know  that  in  a  most  respectable  society  in  New  Jer 
sey  and  Pennsylvania,  and  containing  numbers  in  other  States, 
measures  have  been  taken  to  influence  them  to  give  their  votes 
either  for  the  Free  Soil  party  or  for  General  Cass.  I  mean  the 
Society  of  Friends.  In  thirty  years  of  public  life,  I  have  formed 
a  pretty  general  acquaintance  in  those  States  which  I  have  men 
tioned  ;  and  I  have  the  pleasure  to  know  a  great  many  men  of 
this  Society,  the  Society  of  Friends.  I  have  always  entertained 
a  great  respect  for  their  public  conduct  as  well  as  their  private 
character.  I  have  acquaintance  with  some,  friendship  for  some, 
great  personal  regard  for  some,  and  to  them  I  may  venture  to 
speak ;  and  I  would  say  to  them,  in  the  first  place,  that  what 
ever  else  may  be  asserted  before  them,  every  vote  given  for  Mr. 
Van  Buren  is  a  vote  for  General  Cass ;  and  the  friends  of  Gen 
eral  Cass,  I  think,  will  find  that  out.  Why,  Gentlemen,  I  was 
in  New  York  last  week,  and  while  there,  one  gentleman  of  the 
Cass  party  said  to  a  Whig,  "  We  shall  elect  General  Cass  ;  there 
is  no  doubt  of  that."  "  But  how?  "  "  Why,  the  Liberty  party, 
four  years  ago,  helped  us  to  elect  Mr.  Polk  against  the  Whig 
candidate,  and  the  Free  Soil  party  will  do  just  the  same  thing 
now."  And  therefore  I  say  to  those  to  whom  I  would  now 
speak,  whom  I  know  to  be  urged  in  every  variety  of  form  to 
vote  with  that  party,  that  every  vote  they  give  in  that  direction 
goes  for  General  Cass.  The  question  is,  Do  they  prefer  General 
Cass  to  General  Taylor,  as  a  man  of  peace,  ay,  as  an  anti- 
slavery  man  ?  I  say  to  them,  as  I  say  to  you, — and  they  do  not 
suppose  me,  I  trust,  to  be  a  pro-slavery  man,  —  I  say  to  them  and 
to  you,  upon  my  honor  and  conscience,  that  I  believe,  under  the 
present  circumstances  of  the  country,  we  are  far  more  secure 
against  the  further  progress  of  slavery  and  the  slave  power  un 
der  the  administration  of  General  Taylor,  than  we  are  under  the 


174       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

administration  of  General  Cass.  I  will  say  that  here.  Let  it 
be  recorded,  and  let  the  result  bring  to  the  test  the  justness  of 
the  prophecy. 

Gentlemen,  it  may  be  long  before  I  shall  again  see  you  in 
this  place  in  which  we  are  assembled.  I  do  not  regret  to 
have  been  invited  hither ;  I  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  un 
bosom  myself  upon  the  present  condition  of  the  country.  I 
have  done  it.  And  I  can  only  express  the  fervent  hope  in  Di 
vine  Providence  that  while  we  —  while  our  children,  in  ages  to 
come  —  can  continue  to  assemble  in  this  hallowed  place,  to  delib 
erate  upon  great  political  and  national  subjects,  it  may  always 
be  with  that  intelligence  and  uprightness,  that  pure  patriotic 
spirit,  and  that  high  and  determined  resolve,  which  I  believe  at 
this  moment  animates  the  great  body  of  the  Whigs  of  Massa 
chusetts. 


Jeremiah  Mason 


Jeremiah  Mason 


THE  death  of  the  Hon.  Jeremiah  Mason,  one  of  the  most  eminent  mem 
bers  of  the  legal  profession  in  the  United  States,  took  place  at  Boston, 
on  the  14th  of  October,  1848.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Bar  of  the  County 
of  Suffolk,  Mass.,  held  on  the  17th  instant,  appropriate  resolutions  in 
honor  of  the  deceased,  accompanied  with  a  few  eloquent  observations, 
were  introduced  by  Mr.  Choate,  and  unanimously  adopted.  It  was  voted 
by  the  meeting,  that  Mr.  Webster  should  be  requested  to  present  these 
resolutions  to  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  at  its  next  term  in  Boston. 

In  compliance  with  this  request,  at  the  opening  of  the  next  term  of 
the  court,  on  the  14th  of  November,  1848,  prayer  having  been  offered, 
Mr.  Webster  rose  and  spoke  as  follows :  — 

MAY  it  please  your  Honors,  —  JEREMIAH  MASON,  one  of  the 
counsellors  of  this  court,  departed  this  life  on  the  14th  of  October, 
at  his  residence  in  this  city.  The  death  of  one  of  its  members, 
so  highly  respected,  so  much  admired  and  venerated,  could  not 
fail  to  produce  a  striking  impression  upon  the  members  of  this 
bar ;  and  a  meeting  was  immediately  called,  at  which  a  mem 
ber  of  this  court,  just  on  the  eve  of  leaving  the  practice  of  his 
profession  for  a  seat  on  the  bench,*  presided;  and  resolutions 
expressive  of  the  sense  entertained  by  the  bar  of  the  high  char 
acter  of  the  deceased,  and  of  sincere  condolence  with  those 
whom  his  loss  touched  more  nearly,  were  moved  by  one  of  his 
distinguished  brethren,  and  adopted  with  entire  unanimity.  My 
brethren  have  appointed  me  to  the  honorable  duty  of  presenting 
these  resolutions  to  this  court;  and  it  is  in  discharge  of  that 
duty  that  I  rise  to  address  you,  and  pray  that  the  resolutions 
which  I  hold  in  my  hand  may  be  read  by  the  clerk. 

*  Mr.  Justice  Richard  Fletcher. 

VOL.  IV. —  12 


178      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

The  clerk  of  the  court  then  read  the  resolutions,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  bar  have  heard  with  profound 
emotion  of  the  decease  of  the  Honorable  Jeremiah  Mason,  one  of  the 
most  eminent  and  distinguished  of  the  great  men  who  have  ever  adorned 
this  profession ;  and,  as  well  in  discharge  of  a  public  duty,  as  in  obe 
dience  to  the  dictates  of  our  private  feelings,  we  think  it  proper  to  mark 
this  occasion  by  some  attempt  to  record  our  estimate  of  his  preeminent 
abilities  and  high  character. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  public  character  and  services  of  Mr.  Mason  de 
mand  prominent  commemoration  ;  that,  throughout  his  long  life,  whether 
as  a  private  person  or  in  public  place,  he  maintained  a  wide  and  various 
intercourse  with  public  men,  and  cherished  a  constant  and  deep  interest 
in  public  affairs,  and  by  his  vast  practical  wisdom  and  sagacity,  the  fruit 
of  extraordinary  intellectual  endowments,  matured  thought,  and  pro 
found  observation,  and  by  the  soundness  of  his  opinions  and  the  compre- 
nensiveness  and  elevated  tone  of  his  politics,  he  exerted  at  all  times  a 
great  and  most  salutary  influence  upon  the  sentiments  and  policy  of  the 
community  and  the  country  ;  and  that,  as  a  Senator  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  during  a  period  of  many  years,  and  in  a  crisis  of  af 
fairs  which  demanded  the  wisdom  of  the  wisest  and  the  civil  virtues  of 
the  best,  he  was  distinguished  among  the  most  eminent  men  of  his  coun 
try  for  ability  in  debate,  for  attention  to  all  the  duties  of  his  great  trust, 
for  moderation,  for  prudence,  for  fidelity  to  the  obligations  of  that  party 
connection  to  which  he  was  attached,  for  fidelity  still  more  conspicuous 
and  still  more  admirable  to  the  higher  obligations  of  a  thoughtful  and 
enlarged  patriotism. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  was  the  privilege  of  Mr.  Mason  to  come  to  the 
bar,  when  the  jurisprudence  of  New  England  was  yet  in  its  infancy ; 
that  he  brought  to  its  cultivation  great  general  ability,  and  a  practical 
sagacity,  logical  power,  and  patient  research,  —  constituting  altogether 
a  legal  genius,  rarely  if  ever  surpassed  ;  that  it  was  greatly  through  his 
influence  that  the  growing  wants  of  a  prosperous  State  were  met  and 
satisfied  by  a  system  of  common  law  at  once  flexible  and  certain,  de 
duced  by  the  highest  human  wisdom  from  the  actual  wants  of  the  com 
munity,  logically  correct,  and  practically  useful ;  that  in  the  fact  that  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire  now  possesses  such  a  system  of  law,  whose 
gladsome  light  has  shone  on  other  States,  are  seen  both  the  product  and 
the  monument  of  his  labors,  less  conspicuous,  but  not  less  real,  than  if 
embodied  in  codes  and  institutes  bearing  his  name  ;  yet  that,  bred  as  he 
was  to  the  common  law,  his  great  powers,  opened  and  liberalized  by 
its  study  and  practice,  enabled  him  to  grasp  readily,  and  wield  with  en 
tire  ease,  those  systems  of  equity,  applicable  to  the  transactions  of  the 


"Jeremiah   Mason 

From  the  Painting  by  Gilbert  Stuart,  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  James  M.  Crafts 


Jeremiah  Mason  179 

land  or  the  sea,  which,  in  recent  times,  have  so  much  meliorated  and 
improved  the  administration  of  justice  in  our  country. 

*'  Resolved,  That  as  respects  his  practice  as  a  counsellor  and  advo 
cate  at  this  bar,  we  would  record  our  sense  of  his  integrity,  prudence 
fidelity,  depth  of  learning,  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs,  and  great 
powers  of  persuading  kindred  minds ;  and  we  know  well,  that,  when 
he  died,  there  was  extinguished  one  of  the  few  great  lights  of  the  old 
common  law. 

"  Resolved,  That  Mr.  Webster  be  requested  to  present  these  resolu 
tions  to  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  at  its  next  term,  in  Boston  ;  and  the 
District  Attorney  of  the  United  States  be  requested  to  present  them  to 
the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  now  in  session. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  communicate  to  the  family  of  Mr. 
Mason  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  together  with  the  respectful  sym 
pathy  of  the  bar." 

The  proprieties  of  this  occasion  (continued  Mr.  Webster) 
compel  me,  with  whatever  reluctance,  to  refrain  from  the  indul 
gence  of  the  personal  feelings  which  arise  in  my  heart,  upon  the 
death  of  one  with  whom  I  have  cultivated  a  sincere,  affection 
ate,  and  unbroken  friendship,  from  the  day  when  I  commenced 
my  own  professional  career,  to  the  closing  hour  of  his  life.  I 
will  not  say,  of  the  advantages  which  I  have  derived  from  his 
intercourse  and  conversation,  all  that  Mr.  Fox  said  of  Edmund 
Burke ;  but  I  am  bound  to  say,  that  of  my  own  professional 
discipline  and  attainments,  whatever  they  may  be,  I  owe  much 
to  that  close  attention  to  the  discharge  of  my  duties  which  1 
was  compelled  to  pay,  for  nine  successive  years,  from  day  to 
day,  by  Mr.  Mason's  efforts  and  arguments  at  the  same  bar. 
Fas  est  ab  hoste  doceri;  and  I  must  have  been  unintelligent,  in 
deed,  not  to  have  learned  something  from  the  constant  displays 
of  that  power  which  I  had  so  much  occasion  to  see  and  to  feeL 

It  is  the  more  appropriate  duty  of  the  present  moment  to  give 
some  short  notice  of  his  life,  character,  and  the  qualities  of  his 
mind  and  heart,  so  that  he  may  be  presented  as  an  example  to 
those  who  are  entering  upon  or  pursuing  the  same  career.  Four 
or  five  years  ago,  Mr.  Mason  drew  up  a  biography  of  himself, 
from  the  earliest  period  of  his  recollection  to  the  time  of  his  re 
moval  to  Portsmouth,  in  1797;  which  is  interesting,  not  only 
for  the  information  it  gives  of  the  mode  in  which  the  habits  of 
his  life  were  formed,  but  also  for  the  manner  of  its  composition. 


180      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

He  was  born  on  the  27th  day  of  April,  1768,  at  Lebanon  in 
Connecticut.  His  remotest  ancestor  in  this  country  was  Cap 
tain  John  Mason  (an  officer  who  had  served  with  distinction  in 
the  Netherlands,  under  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax),  who  came  from 
England  in  1630,  and  settled  at  Dorchester  in  the  Colony  of 
Massachusetts.  His  great-grandfather  lived  at  Haddam.  His 
grandfather,  born  in  1705,  lived  at  Norwich,  and  died  in  the 
year  1779.  Mr.  Mason  remembered  him,  and  recollected  his 
character,  as  that  of  a  respectable  and  deeply  religious  man. 
His  ancestor  on  the  maternal  side  was  James  Fitch,  a  learned 
divine,  who  came  from  England  and  settled  in  Saybrook,  but 
removed  to  Lebanon,  where  he  died.  A  Latin  epitaph,  in  the 
ancient  burying-ground  of  that  town,  records  his  merits.  One 
of  his  descendants  held  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  parish  of 
Goshen,  in  the  town  of  Lebanon,  by  grant  from  the  Indians ; 
one  half  of  which,  near  a  century  afterwards,  was  bequeathed 
to  his  daughter,  Elizabeth  Fitch,  the  mother  of  Mr.  Mason. 
To  this  property  Mr.  Mason's  father  removed  soon  after  his 
marriage,  and  there  he  died,  in  1813.  The  title  of  this  land  was 
obtained  from  Uncas,  an  Indian  sachem  in  that  neighborhood, 
by  the  great-grandfather  of  Mr.  Mason's  mother,  and  has  never 
been  alienated  from  the  family.  It  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Ma 
son's  nephew,  Jeremiah  Mason,  the  son  of  his  eldest  brother 
James.  The  family  has  been  distinguished  for  longevity;  the 
average  ages  of  Mr.  Mason's  six  immediate  ancestors  having 
exceeded  eighty-three  years  each.  Mr.  Mason  was  the  sixth  of 
nine  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  dead. 

Mr.  Mason's  father  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and  activity,  of 
considerable  opulence,  and  highly  esteemed  by  the  community. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  being  a  zeal 
ous  Whig,  he  raised  and  commanded  a  company  of  minute 
men,  as  they  were  called,  and  marched  to  the  siege  of  Boston. 
Here  he  rendered  important  service,  being  stationed  at  Dor 
chester  Heights,  and  engaged  in  fortifying  that  position.  In  the 
autumn  of  that  year,  he  was  promoted  to  a  colonelcy,  and  joined 
the  army  with  his  regiment,  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  York. 
At  the  end  of  the  campaign,  he  returned  home  out  of  health, 
but  retained  the  command  of  his  regiment,  which  he  rallied  and 
brought  out  with  celerity  and  spirit  when  General  Arnold 
assaulted  and  burned  New  London.  He  became  attached  to 


Jeremiah  Mason  181 


military  life,  and  regretted  that  he  had  not  at  an  early  day 
entered  the  Continental  service.  Colonel  Mason  was  a  good 
man,  affectionate  to  his  family,  kind  and  obliging  to  his  neigh 
bors,  and  faithful  in  the  observance  of  all  moral  and  religious 
duties 

Mr.  Mason's  mother  was  distinguished  for  a  good  understand 
ing,  much  discretion,  the  purity  of  her  heart  and  affections,  and 
the  exemplary  kindness  and  benevolence  of  her  life.  It  was  her 
great  anxiety  to  give  all  her  children  the  best  education,  within 
the  means  of  the  family,  which  the  state  of  the  country  would 
allow ;  and  she  was  particularly  desirous  that  Jeremiah  should 
be  sent  to  college.  "  In  my  recollection  of  my  mother,"  says 
Mr.  Mason,  "  she  was  the  personification  of  love,  kindness,  and 
benevolence." 

Destined  for  an  education  and  for  professional  life,  Mr.  Mason 
was  sent  to  Yale  College,  at  sixteen  years  of  age ;  his  prepara 
tory  studies  having  been  pursued  under  "  Master  Tisdale,"  who 
had  then  been  forty  years  at  the  head  of  a  school  in  Lebanon, 
which  had  become  distinguished,  and  among  the  scholars  of 
which  were  the  Wheelocks,  afterwards  presidents  of  Dartmouth 
College.  He  was  graduated  in  1784,  and  performed  a  part  in 
the  Commencement  exercises,  which  greatly  raised  the  expecta 
tion  of  his  friends,  and  gratified  and  animated  his  love  for  dis 
tinction.  "  In  the  course  of  a  long  and  active  life,"  says  he,  "  I 
recollect  no  occasion  when  I  have  experienced  such  elevation  of 
feeling."  This  was  the  effect  of  that  spirit  of  emulation  which 
incited  the  whole  course  of  his  life  of  usefulness.  There  is  now 
prevalent  among  us  a  morbid  and  sickly  notion,  that  emulation, 
even  as  honorable  rivalry,  is  a  debasing  passion,  and  not  to  be 
encouraged.  It  supposes  that  the  mind  should  be  left  without 
such  excitement,  in  a  dreamy  and  undisturbed  state,  flowing  or 
not  flowing,  according  to  its  own  impulse,  without  such  aids  as 
are  furnished  by  the  rivalry  of  one  with  another.  For  one,  I  do 
not  believe  in  this.  I  hold  to  the  doctrine  of  the  old  school,  as 
to  this  part  of  education.  Quintilian  says :  "  Sunt  quidam, 
nisi  institeris,  remissi;  quidam  imperio  indignantur;  quosdam 
continet  metus,  quosdam  debilitat :  alios  continuatio  extundit, 
in  aliis  plus  impetus  facit.  Mihi  Hie  detur  puer,  quern  laus  exci- 
tet,  quern  gloria  juvet,  qui  victus  fleat ;  hie  erit  alendus  ambitu, 
hunc  mordebit  objurgatio,  hunc  honor  excitabit ;  in  hoc  desidi- 


1 82      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

am  nunquam  verebor."  I  think  this  is  sound  sense  and  just 
feeling. 

Mr.  Mason  was  destined  for  the  law,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  that  profession  with  Mr.  Baldwin,  a  gentleman  who 
has  lived  to  perform  important  public  and  private  duties,  has 
served  his  country  in  Congress,  and  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Connecticut,  and  still  lives  to  hear  the  account  of  the 
peaceful  death  of  his  distinguished  pupil.  After  a  year,  he  went 
to  Vermont,  in  whose  recently  established  tribunals  he  expected 
to  find  a  new  sphere  for  the  gratification  of  ambition,  and  the 
employment  of  talents.  He  studied  in  the  office  of  Stephen 
Rowe  Bradley,  afterwards  a  Senator  in  Congress ;  and  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar,  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  in  the  year 
1791. 

He  began  his  career  in  Westmoreland,  a  few  miles  below 
Walpole,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three ;  but  in  1794,  three  years 
afterwards,  removed  to  Walpole,  as  being  a  larger  village,  where 
there  was  more  society  and  more  business.  There  was  at  that 
time  on  the  Connecticut  River  a  rather  unusual  number  of  gen 
tlemen,  distinguished  for  polite  accomplishments  and  correct 
tastes  in  literature,  and  among  them  some  well  known  to  the 
public  as  respectable  writers  and  authors.  Among  these  were 
Mr.  Benjamin  West,  Mr.  Dennie,  Mr.  Roy  all  Tyler,  Mr.  Jacobs, 
Mr.  Samuel  Hunt,  Mr.  J.  W.  Blake,  Mr.  Colman  (who  estab 
lished,  and  for  a  long  time  edited,  the  "  New  York  Evening 
Post "),  and  Mr.  Olcott.  In  the  association  with  these  gentle 
men  and  those  like  them,  Mr.  Mason  found  an  agreeable  posi 
tion,  and  cultivated  tastes  and  habits  of  the  highest  character. 

About  this  period,  he  made  a  journey  to  Virginia,  on  some 
business  connected  with  land  titles,  where  he  had  much  inter 
course  with  Major- General  Henry  Lee ;  and,  on  his  return,  he 
saw  President  Washington,  at  Philadelphia,  and  was  greatly 
struck  by  the  urbanity  and  dignity  of  his  manner.  He  heard 
Fisher  Ames  make  his  celebrated  speech  upon  the  British  treaty. 
All  that  the  world  has  said  with  regard  to  the  extraordinary 
effect  produced  by  that  speech,  and  its  wonderful  excellence,  is 
fully  confirmed  by  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Mason.  He  speaks  of  it 
as  one  of  the  highest  exhibitions  of  popular  oratory  that  he  had 
ever  witnessed ;  popular,  not  in  any  low  sense,  but  popular  as 
being  addressed  to  a  popular  body,  and  high  in  all  the  qualities 
of  sound  reasoning  and  enlightened  eloquence. 


Jeremiah  Mason  183 

Mr.  Mason  was  inclined  to  exercise  his  abilities  in  a  larger 
sphere.  He  had  at  this  time  made  the  acquaintance  of  Aaron 
Burr  and  Alexander  Hamilton.  The  former  advised  Mr.  Mason 
to  remove  himself  to  New  York.  His  own  preference  was  for 
Boston ;  but  he  thought,  that,  filled  as  it  then  was  by  distin 
guished  professional  ability,  it  was  too  crowded  to  allow  him  a 
place.  That  was  a  mistake.  On  the  contrary,  the  bar  of  this 
city,  with  the  utmost  liberality  and  generosity  of  feeling  and 
sentiment,  have  always  been  ready  to  receive,  with  open  arms, 
every  honorable  acquisition  to  the  dignity  and  usefulness  of  the 
profession,  from  other  States.  Mr.  Mason,  however,  removed  to 
Portsmouth  in  the  autumn  of  1797 ;  and,  as  was  to  be  expected, 
his  practice  soon  became  extensive.  He  was  appointed  Attor 
ney-General  in  1802.  About  that  time,  the  late  learned  and  la 
mented  Chief  Justice  Smith  retired  from  his  professional  duties, 
to  take  his  place  as  a  judge ;  and  Mr.  Mason  became  the  ac 
knowledged  head  of  his  profession.  He  resigned  the  office  of 
Attorney- General,  three  or  four  years  afterwards,  to  the  great 
regret  of  the  court,  the  bar,  and  the  country.  As  a  prosecuting 
officer,  he  was  courteous,  inflexible,  and  just ;  careful  that  the 
guilty  should  not  escape,  and  that  the  honest  should  be  pro 
tected.  He  was  impartial,  almost  judicial,  in  the  administra 
tion  of  his  great  office.  He  had  no  morbid  eagerness  for  convic 
tion  ;  and  never  permitted,  as  sometimes  occurs,  an  unworthy 
wrangling  between  the  official  power  prosecuting,  and  the  zeal 
of  the  other  party  defending.  His  official  course  produced  ex 
actly  the  ends  it  was  designed  to  do.  The  honest  felt  safe ;  but 
there  was  a  trembling  and  fear  in  the  evil  disposed,  that  the 
transgressed  law  would  be  vindicated. 

Very  much  confined  to  his  profession,  he  never  sought  office 
or  political  elevation.  Yet  he  held  decided  opinions  upon  all 
political  questions,  and  cultivated  acquaintance  with  all  the 
leading  subjects  of  the  day ;  and  no  man  was  more  keenly  alive 
than  he  to  whatever  occurred,  at  home  or  abroad,  involving  the 
great  interests  of  the  civilized  world. 

His  political  principles,  opinions,  judgments,  were  framed  upon 
those  of  the  men  of  the  times  of  Washington.  From  these,  to 
the  last,  he  never  swerved.  The  copy  was  well  executed.  His 
conversation  on  subjects  of  state  was  as  instructive  and  inter 
esting  as  upon  orofessional  topics.  He  had  the  same  reach  of 


184      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

thought,  and  exhibited  the  same  comprehensive  mind,  and  sa 
gacity  quick  and  far  seeing,  with  regard  to  political  things  and 
men,  as  he  did  in  professional  affairs.  His  influence  was,  there 
fore,  hardly  the  less  from  the  fact  that  he  was  not  actively  en 
gaged  in  political  life.  There  was  an  additional  weight  given 
to  his  judgment,  arising  from  his  being  a  disinterested  beholder 
only.  The  looker-on  can  sometimes  form  a  more  independent 
and  impartial  opinion  of  the  course  and  results  of  the  contest, 
than  those  who  are  actually  engaged  in  it. 

But  at  length,  in  June,  1813,  he  was  persuaded  to  accept  the 
post  of  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  and  took  his  seat  that 
month.  He  was  in  Congress  during  the  sessions  of  1813  and 
1814.  Those  were  very  exciting  times,  party  spirit  ran  very 
high,  and  each  party  put  forward  its  most  prominent  and  gifted 
men.  Both  houses  were  filled  by  the  greatest  intellects  of  the 
country.  Mr.  Mason  found  himself  by  the  side  of  Rufus  King, 
Giles,  Goldsborough,  Gore,  Barbour,  Daggett,  Hunter,  and  other 
distinguished  public  men.  Among  men  of  whatever  party,  and 
however  much  some  of  them  differed  from  him  in  opinion  or 
political  principle,  there  was  not  one  of  them  all  but  felt  pleas 
ure  if  he  spoke,  and  respected  his  uncommon  ability  and  probi 
ty,  and  his  fair  and  upright  demeanor  in  his  place  and  station 
He  took  at  once  his  appropriate  position.  Of  his  associates  and 
admirers  in  the  other  house,  there  are  some  eminent  persons 
now  living  who  were  occasional  listeners  to  his  speeches  and 
much  struck  with  his  ability ;  together  with  Pickering,  Benson, 
Pitkin,  Stockton,  Lowndes,  Gaston,  and  Hopkinson,  now  all 
deceased,  who  used  to  flock  to  hear  him,  and  always  derived 
deep  gratification  and  instruction  from  his  talents,  character, 
and  power. 

He  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  in  1817.  His  published 
speeches  are  not  numerous.  The  reports  of  that  day  were  far 
less  complete  than  now,  and  comparatively  few  debates  were 
preserved  and  revised.  It  was  a  remarkable  truth,  that  he  al 
ways  thought  far  too  lightly  of  himself  and  all  his  productions. 
I  know  that  he  was  with  difficulty  persuaded  to  prepare  his 
speeches  in  Congress  for  publication ;  and  in  this  memorial  of 
himself  which  I  have  before  me  he  says,  with  every  appearance 
and  feeling  of  sincerity,  that  he  "  has  never  acted  any  important 
part  in  life,  but  has  felt  a  deep  interest  in  the  conduct  of 
others." 


Jeremiah  Mason  185 

His  two  main  speeches  were,  first,  one  of  great  vigor,  in  the 
Senate,  in  February,  1814,  on  the  Embargo,  just  before  that 
policy  was  abandoned.  The  other  was  later,  in  December,  1815, 
shortly  before  the  peace,  on  Mr.  Giles's  Conscription  Bill,  in 
which  he  discussed  the  subject  of  the  enlistment  of  minors  ;  and 
the  clause  authorizing  such  enlistment  was  struck  out  upon  his 
motion. 

He  was  afterwards  for  several  years  a  member  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Legislature,  and  assisted  in  revising  the  code  of  that 
State.  He  paid  much  attention  to  the  subject  of  the  judicature, 
and  performed  his  services  fully  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  State ; 
and  the  result  of  his  labors  was  warmly  commended.  In  1824 
he  was  again  a  candidate  for  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
The  election  was  to  be  made  by  the  concurrent  vote  of  the  two 
branches  of  the  Legislature.  In  the  popular  branch  he  was 
chosen  by  a  strong  vote.  The  Senate,  however,  non-concurred ; 
by  which  means  the  election  was  lost,  —  a  loss  to  the  country, 
not  to  him,  —  by  force  of  circumstances  and  agencies  not  now 
or  ever  fit  to  be  recalled  or  remembered. 

He  continued  to  reside  for  many  years  in  Portsmouth.  His 
residence  in  that  ancient  town  was  a  happy  one.  He  was  happy 
in  his  family  and  in  the  society  of  the  town,  surrounded  by 
agreeable  neighbors,  respected  by  the  bar  and  the  court,  and 
standing  at  the  head  of  his  profession.  He  had  a  great  love 
of  conversation.  He  took  pleasure  in  hearing  others  talk,  and 
gave  an  additional  charm  by  the  freshness,  agreeableness,  and 
originality  of  his  own  observations.  His  warm  hospitality  left 
him  never  alone,  and  his  usefulness  was  felt  as  much  within 
the  walls  of  the  homes,  as  of  the  tribunals,  of  Portsmouth. 
There  are  yet  many  in  that  town  who  love  him  and  his; 
many  who  witnessed  as  children,  and  recollect,  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  he  was  greeted  by  their  fathers  and  mothers ;  and 
all  in  New  Hampshire  old  enough  to  remember  him  will  feel 
what  we  feel  here  on  this  occasion. 

Led  at  last  partly  by  the  desire  of  exerting  his  abilities  in  a 
larger  sphere  of  usefulness,  and  partly  by  the  fact  of  the  resi 
dence  here  of  beloved  domestic  connections,  he  came  to  this 
city,  and  entered  upon  the  performance  of  his  professional  duties 
in  1832.  Of  the  manner  in  which  he  discharged  those  duties, 
this  court  is  the  most  competent  judge.  You,  Mr.  Chief  Justice, 


1 86      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

and  the  venerable  associate  who  usually  occupies  a  place  at 
your  right,*  have  been  witnesses  of  the  whole.  You  know  the 
fidelity  with  which  he  observed  his  duty  to  the  court,  as  well  as 
his  duty  to  his  clients.  In  learning,  assiduity,  respect  for  the 
bench,  uprightness,  and  integrity,  he  stood  as  an  example  to  the 
bar.  You  know  the  general  probity  and  talent  with  which  he 
performed,  for  so  many  years,  the  duty  of  a  counsellor  of  this 
court. 

I  should  hardly  trust  myself  to  make  any  analysis  of  Mr. 
Mason's  mind.  I  may  be  a  partial  judge.  But  I  may  speak  of 
what  I  myself  admire  and  venerate.  The  characteristics  of  Mr. 
Mason's  mind,  as  I  think,  were  real  greatness,  strength,  and  sa 
gacity.  He  was  great  through  strong  sense  and  sound  judg 
ment,  great  by  comprehensive  views  of  things,  great  by  high 
and  elevated  purposes.  Perhaps  sometimes  he  was  too  cautious 
and  refined,  and  his  distinctions  became  too  minute;  but  his 
discrimination  arose  from  a  force  of  intellect,  and  quick-seeing, 
far-reaching  sagacity,  everywhere  discerning  his  object  and  pur 
suing  it  steadily.  Whether  it  was  popular  or  professional,  he 
grasped  a  point  and  held  it  with  a  strong  hand.  He  was  sar 
castic  sometimes,  but  not  frequently;  not  frothy  or  petulant, 
but  cool  and  vitriolic.  Unfortunate  for  him  on  whom  his  sar 
casm  fell ! 

His  conversation  was  as  remarkable  as  his  efforts  at  the  bar. 
It  was  original,  fresh,  and  suggestive ;  never  dull  or  indifferent 
He  never  talked  when  he  had  nothing  to  say.  He  was  particu 
larly  agreeable,  edifying,  and  instructive  to  all  about  him ;  and 
this  was  the  charm  of  the  social  intercourse  in  which  he  was 
connected. 

As  a  professional  man,  Mr.  Mason's  great  ability  lay  in  the 
department  of  the  common  law.  In  this  part  of  jurisprudence, 
he  was  profoundly  learned.  He  had  drunk  copiously  from  its 
deepest  springs ;  and  he  had  studied  with  diligence  and  success 
the  departures  from  the  English  common  law  which  had  taken 
place  in  this  country,  either  necessarily,  from  difference  of  condi 
tion,  or  positively,  by  force  of  our  own  statutes.  In  his  ad 
dresses,  both  to  courts  and  juries,  he  affected  to  despise  all  elo 
quence,  and  certainly  disdained  all  ornament;  but  his  efforts, 
whether  addressed  to  one  tribunal  or  the  other,  were  marked  by 

*  Mr.  Justice  Wilde. 


Jeremiah  Mason  187 

a  degree  of  clearness,  directness,  and  force  not  easy  to  be 
equalled.  There  were  no  courts  of  equity,  as  a  separate  and 
distinct  jurisdiction,  in  New  Hampshire,  during  his  residence 
in  that  State.  Yet  the  equity  treatises  and  equity  reports  were 
all  in  his  library,  not  "wisely  ranged  for  show,"  but  for  con 
stant  and  daily  consultation;  because  he  saw  that  the  com 
mon  law  itself  was  growing  every  day  more  and  more  liberal ; 
that  equity  principles  were  constantly  forcing  themselves  into 
its  administration  and  within  its  rules;  that  the  subjects  of 
litigation  in  the  courts  were  constantly  becoming,  more  and 
more,  such  as  escaped  from  the  technicalities  and  the  trammels 
of  the  common  law,  and  offered  themselves  for  discussion  and 
decision  on  the  broader  principles  of  general  jurisprudence.  Mr. 
Mason,  like  other  accomplished  lawyers,  and  more  than  most, 
admired  the  searching  scrutiny  and  the  high  morality  of  a  court 
of  equity ;  and  felt  the  instruction  and  edification  resulting  from 
the  perusal  of  the  judgments  of  Lord  Hardwicke,  Lord  Eldon, 
and  Sir  William  Grant,  as  well  as  of  those  of  great  names  in 
our  own  country,  not  now  among  the  living. 

Among  his  early  associates  in  New  Hampshire,  there  were 
many  distinguished  men.  Of  those  now  dead  were  Mr.  West, 
Mr.  Gordon,  Edward  St.  Loe  Livermore,  Peleg  Sprague,  Wil 
liam  K.  Atkinson,  George  Sullivan,  Thomas  W.  Thompson, 
and  Amos  Kent ;  the  last  of  these  having  been  always  a  partic 
ular  personal  friend.  All  of  these  gentlemen  in  their  day  held 
high  and  respectable  stations,  and  were  eminent  as  lawyers  of 
probity  and  character. 

Another  contemporary  and  friend  of  Mr.  Mason  was  Mr. 
Timothy  Bigelow,  a  lawyer  of  reputation,  a  man  of  probity  and 
honor,  attractive  by  his  conversation,  and  highly  agreeable  in  his 
social  intercourse.  Mr.  Bigelow,  we  all  know,  was  of  this 
State,  in  which  he  filled  high  offices  with  great  credit ;  but,  as  a 
counsellor  and  advocate,  he  was  constant  in  his  attendance  on 
the  New  Hampshire  courts.  Having  known  Mr.  Bigelow  from 
my  early  youth,  I  have  pleasure  in  recalling  the  mutual  regard 
and  friendship  which  I  know  to  have  subsisted  between  him  and 
the  subject  of  these  remarks.  I  ought  not  to  omit  Mr.  Wilson 
and  Mr.  Betton,  in  mentioning  Mr.  Mason's  contemporaries  at 
the  bar.  They  were  near  his  own  age,  and  both  well  known  as 
lawyers  and  public  men. 


1 88      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Mr.  Mason,  while  yet  in  New  Hampshire,  found  himself  en 
gaged  in  causes  in  which  that  illustrious  man,  Samuel  Dexter, 
also  appeared.  The  late  Mr.  Justice  Story  was  still  more  fre 
quently  at  the  bar  of  that  State;  and,  at  a  period  somewhat 
earlier,  your  great  and  distinguished  predecessor,  Chief  Justice 
Parsons,  occasionally  presented  himself  before  the  courts  at 
Portsmouth  or  Exeter,  and  he  is  known  to  have  entertained  a 
very  high  regard,  personal  and  professional,  as  well  for  Mr.  Ma 
son  as  for  the  late  Chief  Justice  Smith. 

Among  those  still  living,  with  whom  Mr.  Mason  was  on  terms 
of  intimacy,  and  with  whom  he  associated  at  the  bar,  were 
Messrs.  Plumer,  Arthur  Livermore,  Samuel  Bell,  and  Charles  H. 
Atherton.  If  these  respected  men  could  be  here  to-day,  every 
one  of  them  would  unite  with  us  in  our  tribute  of  love  and  ven 
eration  to  his  memory. 

But,  Sir,  political  eminence  and  professional  fame  fade  away 
and  die  with  all  things  earthly.  Nothing  of  character  is  really 
permanent  but  virtue  and  personal  worth.  These  remain. 
Whatever  of  excellence  is  wrought  into  the  soul  itself  belongs 
to  both  worlds.  Real  goodness  does  not  attach  itself  merely  to 
this  life ;  it  points  to  another  world.  Political  or  professional 
reputation  cannot  last  for  ever ;  but  a  conscience  void  of  offence 
before  God  and  man  is  an  inheritance  for  eternity.  Religion^ 
therefore,  is  a  necessary  and  indispensable  element  in  any  great 
human  character.  There  is  no  living  without  it.  Religion  is 
the  tie  that  connects  man  with  his  Creator,  and  holds  him  to  his 
throne.  If  that  tie  be  all  sundered,  all  broken,  he  floats  away, 
a  worthless  atom  in  the  universe ;  its  proper  attractions  all  gone, 
its  destiny  thwarted,  and  its  whole  future  nothing  but  darkness, 
desolation,  and  death.  A  man  with  no  sense  of  religious  duty 
is  he  whom  the  Scriptures  describe,  in  such  terse  but  terrific 
language,  as  living  "  without  God  in  the  world."  Such  a  man 
is  out  of  his  proper  being,  out  of  the  circle  of  all  his  duties,  out 
of  the  circle  of  all  his  happiness,  and  away,  far,  far  away,  from 
the  purposes  of  his  creation. 

A  mind  like  Mr.  Mason's,  active,  thoughtful,  penetrating,  se 
date,  could  not  but  meditate  deeply  on  the  condition  of  man 
below,  and  feel  its  responsibilities.  He  could  not  look  on  this 
mighty  system, 

1  This  universal  frame,  thus  wondrous  fair," 


Jeremiah  Mason  189 

without  feeling  that  it  was  created  and  upheld  by  an  Intelli 
gence,  to  which  all  other  intelligences  must  be  responsible.  1 
am  bound  to  say,  that  in  the  course  of  my  life  I  never  met  with 
an  individual,  in  any  profession  or  condition  of  life,  who  always 
spoke,  and  always  thought,  with  such  awful  reverence  of  the 
power  and  presence  of  God.  No  irreverence,  no  lightness, 
even  no  too  familiar  allusion  to  God  and  his  attributes,  ever 
escaped  his  lips.  The  very  notion  of  a  Supreme  Being  was, 
with  him,  made  up  of  awe  and  solemnity.  It  filled  the  whole 
of  his  great  mind  with  the  strongest  emotions.  A  man  like  him, 
with  all  his  proper  sentiments  and  sensibilities  alive  in  him, 
must,  in  this  state  of  existence,  have  something  to  believe  and 
something  to  hope  for ;  or  else,  as  life  is  advancing  to  its  close 
and  parting,  all  is  heart-sinking  and  oppression.  Depend  upon 
it,  whatever  may  be  the  mind  of  an  old  man,  old  age  is  only  re 
ally  happy,  when,  on  feeling  the  enjoyments  of  this  world  pass 
away,  it  begins  to  lay  a  stronger  hold  on  those  of  another. 

Mr.  Mason's  religious  sentiments  and  feelings  were  the  crown 
ing  glories  of  his  character.  One,  with  the  strongest  motives 
to  love  and  venerate  him,  and  the  best  means  of  knowledge, 
Bays :  — 

"  So  far  as  my  memory  extends,  he  always  showed  a  deep  convic 
tion  of  the  divine  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  of  the  institutions  of 
Christianity,  and  of  the  importance  of  personal  religion.  Soon  after  his 
residence  in  Boston,  he  entered  the  communion  of  the  Church,  and  has 
continued  since  regularly  to  receive  the  Lord's  Supper.  From  that 
time,  he  also  habitually  maintained  domestic  worship,  morning  and  even 
ing.  The  death  of  two  of  his  sons  produced  a  deep  impression  upon 
his  mind,  and  directed  it  in  an  increased  degree  to  religious  subjects. 

"  Though  he  was  always  reserved  in  the  expression  of  religious  feel 
ing,  still  it  has  been  very  apparent,  for  several  years,  that  his  thoughts 
dwelt  much  upon  his  practical  religious  duties,  and  especially  upon  prep 
aration  for  another  world.  Within  three  or  four  years,  he  frequently 
led  the  conversation  to  such  subjects ;  and  during  the  year  past,  im 
mediate  preparation  for  his  departure  has  been  obviously  the  constant 
subject  of  his  attention.  His  expressions  in  regard  to  it  were  deeply 
humble ;  and,  indeed,  the  very  humble  manner  in  which  he  always  spoke 
of  himself  was  most  marked. 

"  I  have  observed,  of  late  years,  an  increasing  tenderness  in  his  feel 
ings  and  manner,  and  a  desire  to  impress  his  family  with  the  conviction 


190       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

that  he  would  not  remain  long  with  them.  His  allusions  of  this  kind 
have  been  repeated,  even  when  apparently  in  his  usual  health  ;  and 
they  indicated  the  current  of  his  thoughts. 

"  He  retained  his  consciousness  till  within  a  few  hours  of  his  death, 
and  made  distinct  replies  to  every  question  put  to  him.  He  was  fully 
aware  that  his  end  was  near ;  and  in  answer  to  the  question,  4  Can 
you  now  rest  with  firm  faith  upon  the  merits  of  your  Divine  Redeem 
er  ?'  he  said,  '  I  trust  I  do  :  upon  what  else  can  I  rest  ?  ' 

"  At  another  time,  in  reply  to  a  similar  question,  he  said, '  Of  course, 
I  have  no  other  ground  of  hope.'  We  did  not  often  speak  to  him  dur 
ing  those  last  three  days,  but  had  no  doubt  that  he  was  entirely  con 
scious  of  his  state,  knew  that  his  family  were  all  near,  and  that  his  mind 
was  free  from  anxiety.  He  could  not  speak  with  ease,  and  we  were 
unwilling  to  cause  him  the  pain  of  exertion.  His  whole  life,  marked  by 
uniform  greatness,  wisdom,  and  integrity ;  his  deep  humility,  his  profound 
reverence  for  the  Divine  Majesty,  his  habitual  preparation  for  death,  his 
humble  trust  in  his  Saviour,  left  nothing  to  be  desired  for  the  consola 
tion  of  his  family  under  this  great  loss.  He  was  gradually  prepared  for 
his  departure.  His  last  years  were  passed  in  calm  retirement ;  and  he 
died  as  he  wished  to  die,  with  his  faculties  unimpaired,  without  great 
pain,  with  his  family  around  his  bed,  the  precious  promises  of  the  Gos 
pel  before  his  mind,  without  lingering  disease,  and  yet  not  suddenly 
called  away." 

Such,  Mr.  Chief  Justice,  was  the  life,  and  such  the  death,  of 
JEREMIAH  MASON.  For  one,  I  could  pour  out  my  heart  like 
water,  at  the  recollection  of  his  virtues  and  his  friendship,  and  in 
the  feeling  of  his  loss.  I  would  embalm  his  memory  in  my  best 
affections.  His  personal  regard,  so  long  continued  to  me,  I  es 
teem  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  of  my  life ;  and  I  hope  that  it 
may  be  known  hereafter,  that,  without  intermission  or  coolness 
through  many  years,  and  until  he  descended  to  his  grave,  Mr. 
Mason  and  myself  were  friends. 

Mr.  Mason  died  in  old  age ;  not  by  a  violent  stroke  from  the 
hand  of  death,  not  by  a  sudden  rupture  of  the  ties  of  nature,  but 
by  a  gradual  wearing  out  of  his  constitution.  He  enjoyed 
through  life,  indeed,  remarkable  health.  He  took  competent 
exercise,  loved  the  open  air,  and,  avoiding  all  extreme  theories  or 
practice,  controlled  his  conduct  and  habits  of  life  by  the  rules  of 
prudence  and  moderation.  His  death  was  therefore  not  unlike 
that  described  by  the  angel,  admonishing  Adam :  — 


Jeremiah  Mason  191 

"  I  yield  it  just,  said  Adam,  and  submit. 
But  is  there  yet  no  other  way,  besides 
These  painful  passages,  how  we  may  come 
To  death,  and  mix  with  our  connatural  dust? 

There  is,  said  Michael,  if  thou  well  observe 

The  rule  of  *  Not  too  much,'  by  temperance  taught, 

In  what  thou  eat'st  and  drink'st ;  seeking  from  thence 

Due  nourishment,  not  gluttonous  delight ; 

Till  many  years  over  thy  head  return, 

So  mayst  thou  live ;  till,  like  ripe  fruit,  thou  drop 

Into  thy  mother's  lap  ;  or  be  with  ease 

Gathered,  not  harshly  plucked ;  for  death  mature. 

This  is  old  age." 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New 
Hampshire 


VOL.  IV.  —  13 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New 
Hampshire 


IN  the  autumn  of  1849  some  of  the  natives  of  New  Hampshire  es 
tablished  in  Massachusetts,  and  especially  in  Boston  and  the  vicinity, 
proposed  to  hold  a  festival  in  honor  of  the  State  of  their  birth.  The 
proposal  was  cordially  welcomed,  and  about  fifteen  hundred  persons 
took  part  in  the  festival.  The  subscribers  assembled  at  three  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  of  the  7th  of  November,  in  the  State-House  at  Boston,  when  a 
procession  was  formed,  which  moved  through  the  principal  streets  to  the 
large  hall  of  the  Fitchburg  Railway  Company.  Mr.  Webster  officiated 
as  president  of  the  day.  Mr.  Justice  Woodbury  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  Hon.  John  P.  Hale  of  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  Chief  Justice  Parker  of  the  Law  School  at  Cambridge,  General 
H.  A.  S.  Dearborn,  Mayor  of  Roxbury,  Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Pres 
ident  of  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  and  other  gentlemen  of  distinc 
tion,  natives  of  New  Hampshire,  were  present  and  addressed  the  com 
pany.  Mr.  Webster  spoke  twice  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  the 
first  time  as  follows  :  — 

RESIDENTS  of  Boston  and  its  vicinity,  native  born  of  New 
Hampshire !  we  meet  here  to-day  in  honor  of  our  native  State, 
to  commemorate  and  record  our  grateful  affection  for  her;  to 
acknowledge  the  obligation  which  we  all  feel  for  her  care  and 
nurture  in  our  early  days.  Coming  into  this,  another  State,  we 
have  not  brought  away  with  us  all  our  affections,  or  all  our 
attachments. 

We  have  invited  to  meet  us  many  distinguished  citizens  ol 
New  Hampshire.  They  have  answered  our  invitation,  and  have 
come  in  numbers.  It  may  be  considered  properly  the  duty  of 
the  place  I  occupy  to  bid  them,  one  and  all,  welcome.  Wel 
come,  ye  of  New  Hampshire  origin,  from  every  part  and  quarter 
of  our  native  State !  If  you  come  from  the  pleasant  valleys  of 


196      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

the  Connecticut  and  Merrimack,  welcome !  Are  you  from  the 
sea-shore  and  the  lakes  of  Stafford  ?  welcome  !  Come  ye  from 
the  Monadnock  and  the  sides  of  the  Crystal  Hills?  welcome! 
welcome  !  WELCOME  ! 

It  was  not  in  my  power.  Gentlemen,  to  meet  you  in  the  hall 
of  the  State- House  before  dinner.  But  I  meet  you  here,  and  in 
the  name  of  those  who  have  prepared  this  celebration,  I  greet 
our  guests,  and  in  my  own  name,  I  greet  all.  I  think  they  say 
the  Chinese  have  a  heathenish  custom,  when  they  meet,  of 
shaking  their  own  hands  to  their  friends.  That  is  not  our 
custom.  Let  us  be  more  classical ;  — 

"  Cur  dextrae  jungere  dextram 
Non  datur." 

Let  us  follow  the  English  and  the  Saxon  custom,  and  shake 
hands  with  our  friends.  I  give  my  hands  to  the  friends  next  me. 
Let  us  embrace,  more  majorum,  and  have  a  good  hearty  shaking 
of  hands. 

Gentlemen,  all  the  world  admits  that  identity  of  local  origin 
is  a  tie  of  connection  and  sympathy,  especially  if  it  be  strength 
ened  by  early  association,  by  the  meeting  with  one  another  in 
the  school-house,  and  in  the  society  of  early  life.  In  the  morn 
ing  of  life,  the  heart  opens  all  its  sympathies  to  those  around  it, 
and  receives  impressions  which  are  deep  and  lasting.  We  have 
migrated  from  one  State  to  another.  Our  migration  has  not, 
indeed,  been  far.  Nor  have  we  come  among  strangers  ;  nor 
have  we  had  a  new  tongue  to  learn,  new  principles  to  imbibe, 
new  courses  of  life  to  pursue ;  but,  nevertheless,  we  have  changed 
our  allegiance ;  we  have  changed  our  citizenship ;  we  have 
changed  our  social  relations.  New  Hampshire  men  once  in  all 
these  respects,  we  have  ceased  to  be  New  Hampshire  men  now 
in  every  thing,  but  grateful  remembrance  and  affection  for  the 
past. 

To-day  we  meet,  to  resume,  for  the  time,  the  feelings  which 
belong  to  us,  as  citizens  of  New  Hampshire ;  to  put  on  the  New 
Hampshire  character,  and  see  how  well  it  may  fit  us  here,  in  the 
metropolis  of  the  State  to  which  we  have  come.  Gentlemen, 
our  lot  is  propitious ;  singularly,  remarkably  propitious.  We 
are  the  native  sons  of  one  State,  we  are  the  adopted  children  of 
another,  and  we  are  proud  of  both.  We  desire  not  to  forget 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire   197 

whence  we  came,  and  Heaven  forbid  that  we  should  forget 
where  we  are.  We  have  met,  I  say,  to  commemorate  our  na 
tive  State.  We  value  it  according  to  its  merits,  which  we  be 
lieve  high  and  honorable.  We  value  it  for  what  Nature  has  con 
ferred  upon  it,  and  for  what  its  hardy  sons  have  done  for  them 
selves.  We  have  not  forgotten  that  its  scenery  is  beautiful; 
that  its  skies  are  all-healthful ;  that  its  mountains  and  lakes  are 
surpassingly  grand  and  sublime.  If  there  be  any  thing  on  this 
continent,  the  work  of  Nature,  in  hills,  and  lakes,  and  seas,  and 
woods,  and  forests,  strongly  attracting  the  admiration  of  all  those 
who  love  natural  scenery,  it  is  to  be  found  in  our  mountain  State 
of  New  Hampshire. 

It  happened  to  me  lately  to  visit  the  northern  parts  of  the 
State.  It  was  autumn.  The  trees  of  the  forests,  by  the  discol 
oration  of  the  leaves,  presented  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spec 
tacles  that  the  human  eye  can  rest  upon.  But  the  low  and  deep 
murmur  of  those  forests,  the  fogs  and  mists,  rising  and  spreading, 
and  clasping  the  breasts  of  the  mountains,  whose  heads  were  still 
high  and  bright  in  the  skies,  —  all  these  indicated  that  a  win 
try  storm  was  on  the  wing ;  that  the  spirit  of  the  mountains 
was  stirred,  and  that  ere  long  the  voice  of  tempests  would  speak. 
But  even  this  was  exciting ;  exciting  to  those  of  us  who  had 
been  witnesses  before  of  such  stem  forebodings,  and  exciting  in 
itself,  as  an  exhibition  of  the  grandeur  of  natural  scenery.  For 
my  part,  I  felt  the  truth  of  that  sentiment,  applied  elsewhere  and 
on  another  occasion,  that 

"  the  loud  torrent  and  the  whirlwind's  roar 
But  bound  me  to  my  native  mountains  more." 

Ours  is  not  one  of  the  richest  of  the  States.  It  does  not 
compare  with  Massachusetts  in  its  facilities  of  mercantile  or 
commercial  occupation  and  enterprise.  Its  soil  is  sterile  and 
stubborn,  but  the  resolution  to  subdue  it  is  stubborn  also.  Un 
relenting  rocks  have  yielded,  and  do  yield,  to  unrelenting  labor ; 
and  there  are  productiveness,  and  health,  and  plenty,  and  com 
fort,  over  all  her  hills  and  among  all  her  valleys.  Manly  strength, 
the  nerved  arm  of  freemen,  each  one  tilling  his  own  land,  and 
standing  on  his  own  soil,  enjoying  what  he  earns,  and  ready  to 
defend  it,  —  these  have  made  all  comfortable  and  happy. 

Nor  need  we  be  ashamed  of  her  literary,  her  religious,  or  her 


198       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

social  institutions.  I  have  seen,  and  others  of  my  age  have  seen, 
the  church  and  the  school-house  rise  and  stand  in  the  very  centre 
of  the  forest,  and  seen  them  resorted  to  in  the  midst  of  winter 
snows.  And  where  these  things  lie  at  the  foundation  and  com 
mencement  of  society,  where  the  worship  of  God,  the  observance 
of  morals,  and  the  culture  of  the  human  mind,  are  springs  of 
action  with  those  who  take  hold  of  the  original  forest,  to  subdue 
it  by  strong  arms  and  strong  muscles,  there,  depend  upon  it, 
the  people  never  fail. 

Everywhere,  everywhere^  on  her  hills  and  rivers,  are  there 
school-houses.  The  school-house ;  who  shaU  speak  of  that 
throughout  New  England  as  it  ought  to  be  spoken  of?  Who 
shall  speak,  in  proper  language,  of  the  wisdom,  and  foresight,  and 
benevolence,  and  sagacity  of  our  forefathers,  in  establishing  a 
general  system  of  public  instruction  as  a  great  public  police  for 
the  benefit  of  the  whole,  as  a  business  in  which  all  are  interested  ? 
The  world  had  previously  seen  nothing  like  it,  although  some 
parts  of  the  world,  have  since  copied  from  it.  But  where,  when 
you  talk  of  fostering  governments,  of  guardian  governments,  of 
governments  which  render  to  subjects  that  protection  which  the 
allegiance  of  subjects  demands,  —  where  is  it,  I  ask,  that,  as 
here  with  us,  it  has  come  to  be  a  great  and  fundamental  propo 
sition,  existing  before  constitutions,  that  it  is  the  duty,  the 
bounden  duty,  of  governments  composed  by  the  representation 
of  all,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  happiness  and  respectability 
of  society  in  universal  education  ?  If  you  can  tell  me  such  a 
country  out  of  New  England,  I  would  be  glad  to  hear  of  it.  I 
know  of  none.  I  have  read  of  none. 

Gentlemen,  the  inhabitants  of  our  New  Hampshire  moun 
tains  were,  it  must  be  confessed,  from  the  first,  rather  inclined  to 
the  indulgence  of  a  military  spirit.  I  believe  that  this  is  com 
mon  to  mountainous  regions  in  most  parts  of  the  world.  Scot 
land  and  Switzerland  show  the  example  of  hardy,  strong  men  in 
mountainous  regions,  attached  to  war  and  to  the  chase ;  and  it 
is  not  unfortunate  in  our  New  Hampshire  history,  that  this 
sentiment,  to  a  considerable  degree,  prevailed.  The  position  of 
the  country  and  the  state  of  the  people  called  for  its  exercise. 
We  know  that  New  Hampshire  was  settled,  in  all  its  frontier 
towns,  under  circumstances  of  the  most  dangerous  and  difficult 
nature  and  character.  It  was  a  border  State.  It  bordered  on 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire   199 

the  Indians  and  on  the  French;  names  and  nations  always 
coupled  together  in  the  language  of  our  fathers  as  common  ene 
mies  to  them.  This  exposed  the  frontier  men,  of  New  Hamp 
shire  especially,  to  perpetual  war ;  to  perpetual  danger  at  least 
of  war,  and  its  frequent  occurrence.  People  forget ;  they  forget 
how  lately  it  is,  that  the  interior,  the  border  country  of  New 
Hampshire,  was  settled  and  reclaimed,  and  made  safe  from  In 
dian  depredation.  All  the  world  reads  that  New  England  is 
the  oldest  part  of  the  United  States,  or  one  of  the  oldest.  It  has 
been  looked  upon  as  the  longest  settled.  But,  in  regard  to  the 
frontiers  of  our  native  State,  the  settlement  has  been  recent. 
Even  up  to  the  time  of  the  birth  of  some  of  us  now  living,  there 
was  some  degree  of  danger  from  Indian  depredations  and  Indian 
wars ;  liability  to  Indian  assaults,  murders,  and  burnings. 

Whole  generations,  at  least  one  entire  generation,  tilled  the 
land  and  raised  their  bread  with  their  arms  in  their  hands,  or  in 
the  fields  with  them  at  their  labor.  We  do  not  now  appreciate 
the  difficulty  of  those  frontier  settlements,  because  subsequent 
prosperity  and  security  have  obliterated  the  recollection. 

The  pioneers  of  more  fortunate  countries  in  our  day,  what  are 
their  dangers  compared  with  those  of  bur  fathers  ?  They  go  to 
a  mild  climate.  They  go  to  a  fertile  land ;  and  they  have  be 
hind  them  a  powerful  government,  capable  of  defending  them 
against  the  foe,  of  protecting  their  interests,  and  of  redressing 
the  wrongs  they  may  suffer.  It  was  not  so  with  our  fathers  in 
New  Hampshire.  There,  on  the  border  were  the  Indians,  and 
behind  the  Indians  were  the  hostile  French.  It  was  in  this  sit 
uation  of  border  danger  and  border  warfare,  and  border  strife  and 
border  suffering,  that  our  ancestors  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
State  from  which  we  come. 

In  the  language  of  Fisher  Ames,  "  It  is  not  in  Indian  wars 
that  heroes  are  celebrated  ;  but  it  is  there  they  are  formed.  No 
enemy  on  earth  is  more  formidable,  in  the  skill  of  his  ambushes, 
in  the  suddenness  of  his  attack,  or  in  the  ferocity  of  his  re 
venge."  Not  only  was  this  foe  to  be  encountered,  but  also  a 
civilized  state  at  enmity  with  us  behind  the  Indians,  supplying 
them  with  means,  and  always  ready  to  purchase  the  victims 
that  they  could  bring  for  sale  to  Canada.  This  was  the  condi 
tion  of  things  in  which  the  frontiers  were  settled.  Let  it  be 
added,  that  half  the  year  was  winter,  and  that  on  the  surface 


200      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

of  the  snow,  incrusted  by  frosts,  bands  of  savages,  coming  from 
a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles,  suddenly  appeared,  and  set  fire, 
at  midnight,  to  the  villages  of  the  settlers. 

It  was  in  this  discipline,  it  was  in  these  Indian  wars,  it  was  es 
pecially  in  the  war  of  1756,  against  the  French,  in  which  almost 
every  man  in  New  Hampshire,  capable  of  bearing  arms,  took  part, 
—  it  was  here  that  the  military  spirit  of  the  country,  the  brav 
ery,  the  gallantry  of  these  mountain  inhabitants,  were  all  called 
forth.  They  were  a  people  given  to  the  chase  and  to  the  hunt 
in  time  of  peace ;  fitted  for  endurance  and  danger ;  and  when 
war  came,  they  were  ready  to  meet  it.  It  was  in  the  midst  of 
these  vicissitudes  that  they  were  formed  to  hardihood  and  enter 
prise,  and  trained  to  military  skill  and  fearlessness. 

As  one  example  out  of  many,  I  might  refer  to  General  John 
Stark,  well  known  for  his  military  achievements  in  all  the  wars 
of  his  time ;  a  hunter  in  peace,  a  soldier  in  war ;  and  as  a  sol 
dier,  always  among  the  foremost  and  the  bravest.  And  since  he 
is  brought  to  my  remembrance,  let  me  dwell  upon  the-  recollec 
tion  for  a  moment. 

General  Stark  was  my  neighbor,  the  neighbor  and  friend  of 
my  father.  One  in  a  highly  important,  the  other  in  a  less  dis 
tinguished  situation,  they  had  seen  military  service  together, 
and  had  met  the  enemy  in  the  same  field.  It  was  in  the  de 
cline  of  Stark's  life,  comparatively  speaking,  that  the  Revolu 
tionary  war  broke  out.  He  entered  into  it,  however,  with  all 
the  manliness  and  all  the  fervor  of  his  youthful  character.  Yet, 
in  his  advanced  age,  like  other  old  men,  he  turned  back  fondly 
to  earlier  scenes ;  and  when  he  spoke  of  the  "  war,"  he  always 
meant  the  old  French  and  Indian  war.  His  remembrances  were 
of  Canada ;  of  the  exploits  at  Crown  Point,  and  Ticonderoga, 
and  Lake  George.  He  seemed  to  think  of  the  Revolution  as 
only  a  family  quarrel,  in  which,  nevertheless,  he  took  a  warm 
and  decided  part ;  but  he  preferred  to  talk  of  the  "  war "  in 
which  he  was  taken  by  the  Indians,  as  he  was  more  than  once, 
I  think,  and  carried  to  Canada.  The  last  time  I  saw  him,  he 
was  seated  around  a  social  fire  with  his  neighbors.  As  I  en 
tered,  he  greeted  me,  as  he  always  did,  with  affection ;  and  I 
believe  he  complimented  me  on  my  complexion,  which  he  said 
was  like  my  father's ;  and  his  was  such,  he  said,  that  no  one  could 
tell  whether  he  was  covered  with  powder  or  not.  The  con- 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire   201 

versation  turned,  like  other  conversations  among  country  neigh 
bors,  upon  this  man's  condition  and  that  man's  condition ;  the 
property  of  one,  and  the  property  of  another,  and  how  much  each 
was  worth.  At  last,  rousing  himself  from  an  apparent  slumber, 
he  said,  "  Well,  I  never  knew  but  once  what  I  was  worth.  In 
the  war,  the  Indians  took  me,  and  carried  me  to  Canada,  and 
sold  me  to  the  French  for  forty  pounds ;  and,  as  they  say  a 
thing  is  worth  what  it  will  fetch,  I  suppose  I  was  worth  forty 
pounds." 

These  are  the  scenes,  ye  native  born,  this  is  the  history,  ye 
sons  of  New  Hampshire,  of  the  times  and  the  events  that 
brought  forth  the  gallant  spirits  of  our  native  State  into  the 
midst  of  a  still  more  important  and  more  serious  conflict,  which 
began  here  in  1775.  New  Hampshire  was  then  full  of  soldiers ; 
indeed,  I  may  say  that  the  whole  of  New  England  was  full  of 
soldiers,  when  the  Revolutionary  war  broke  out.  New  Hamp 
shire,  especially,  had  hardly  anybody  in  it  that  had  not  been  ac 
customed  to  bear  arms  in  the  previous  war.  As  proof  of  the 
soldierlike  character  of  our  New  England  yeomanry,  I  may 
mention  a  fact  wich  should  not  be  forgotten ;  that,  of  all  the  sol 
diers,  regular  and  militia,  which  served  in  the  war  of  independ 
ence,  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island, — these  four  little  States,  which,  as  you  look  upon 
a  map  of  the  United  States,  you  can  cover  with  your  hand,  — 
these  States  furnished  more  than  one  half  of  all  the  men  that 
achieved  our  independence.  It  appears  from  official  and  statis 
tical  records,  that  during  the  war,  in  the  regular  service  and  in 
the  militia  service,  from  three  hundred  and  seventeen  to  three 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men  were  employed  in  our 
armies.  Of  these,  New  England  alone  furnished  more  than 
half. 

I  may  refer  to  a  period  further  back.  I  may  revert  to  the 
time  that  Louisburg  was  taken  from  the  French,  in  1745.  How 
many  men  do  you  think  the  Colonies  of  New  England  main 
tained?  I  believe,  Gentlemen,  they  maintained,  for  one  or 
two  years  at  least,  upon  provincial  pay,  more  men  against 
the  French,  than  were  enlisted  at  any  one  time  in  our  late 
war  with  England.  It  was  this  which  induced  Lord  Chat 
ham  to  say,  in  his  place  in  the  House  of  Lords,  "  I  remem 
ber,  my  Lords,  when  New  England  raised  four  regiments  on 


202      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

her  own  bottom,  and  took  Louisburg  from  the  veteran  troops  of 
France." 

Then  came  the  war  of  the  Revolution ;  it  broke  out  here  in 
the  State  of  Massachusetts.  Where  was  New  Hampshire  then  ? 
Was  she  alienated  from  the  cause,  or  from  her  sister  State  ? 
No.  Neither  then,  nor  at  any  time  in  the  succeeding  contest, 
was  her  soil  subject  to  the  tread  of  a  hostile  foot.  Whether 
they  thought  it  not  worth  entering,  or  whether  they  did  not 
choose  to  encounter  the  dwellers  in  her  mountains,  I  do  not  care 
to  decide.  The  truth  is,  no  enemy  trod  on  the  soil  of  New 
Hampshire.  But  when  the  strife  began,  when  the  beacon-fires 
were  lighted  here,  when  the  march  from  Boston  to  Lexing 
ton  and  Concord  had  spread  the  flames  of  liberty,  who  an 
swered  to  the  call  ?  Did  New  Hampshire  need  to  be  sum 
moned  to  Bunker  Hill?  She  came  at  the  first  blaze  of  the 
beacon-fires.  None  were  earlier,  none  more  ready,  none  more 
valiant. 

I  think  it  is  Madame  de  Stael  who  says,  that  "  from  the  moun 
tains  of  the  North  there  comes  nothing  but  fire  and  the  sword." 
And  on  this  occasion  there  did  indeed  come  from  our  native 
mountains  both  fire  and  the  sword ;  not  the  fire  of  devastation 
and  desolation,  not  the  sword  of  ruthless  plunder  and  massacre, 
but  the  fire  of  LIBERTY  and  the  sword  of  PATRIOTISM.  And  how 
ardently  the  one  burned,  and  how  vigorously  the  other  was 
wielded  till  the  return  of  peace  enabled  the  country  to  sheathe  it 
and  be  at  rest,  let  the  whole  history  of  that  country  tell. 

Gentlemen,  from  Bunker  Hill  to  Yorktown,  there  was  not  a 
battle  in  which  New  Hampshire  blood  was  not  shed.  I  may  go 
further  yet ;  and  I  may  say  that  there  is,  probably,  of  the  many 
hundreds  now  in  this  very  hall,  a  representative  of  some  New 
Hampshire  officer  or  soldier  who  fell  in  every  field,  and  left  his 
bones  where  he  fought  his  battle.  The  blood,  the  blood  of  New 
Hampshire  men,  falling  everywhere,  and  in  every  year  of  the 
war,  in  defence  of  the  liberty  of  the  country,  is  here  to-night.  I 
hope  it  is  worthy  of  its  descent,  and  that  it  will  transmit  itself 
undefiled  to  ages,  and  ages  yet  to  come. 

Those  who  returned  to  New  Hampshire  from  that  seven  years' 
contest  have  their  graves  on  the  mountain-sides  and  along  the 
valleys  of  their  native  land ;  and  those  graves  are  ever  objects 
of  public  regard  and  private  affection. 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire   203 

"  How  sleep  the  brave,  who  sink  to  rest, 
By  all  their  country's  wishes  blest ! 

And  Freedom  shall  awhile  repair, 
And  dwell,  a  weeping  hermit,  there." 

They  are  ever  pointed  out  to  the  passing  traveller  as  the  last 
resting-place  of  the  patriotic  and  the  brave ;  and  they  continue 
to  be  watered  with  the  tears  of  a  grateful  posterity.  But,  alas ! 
all  did  not  return.  McCleary,  the  earliest,  or  one  of  the  earliest, 
of  the  New  Hampshire  victims  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle 
fell  in  Charlestown.  His  blood  is  mixed  with  the  earth  upon 
which  yonder  monument  stands,  raising  its  head  to  the  skies,  and 
challenging  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  world,  for  the 
spot  where  a  military  achievement  was  performed,  which,  in  its 
results,  in  the  long  career  of  its  consequences,  in  the  great  course 
of  events  which  followed  it,  and  their  effects  upon  human  happi 
ness  and  human  liberty,  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  mankind. 
Adams  and  Coleman  fell  at  Saratoga,  and  the  soil  of  New 
York  contains  their  ashes.  Colonel  Scammel,  a  scholar,  a  gen 
tleman  of  high  attainment  and  accomplishment,  a  soldier  of  un 
daunted  valor,  went  through  the  whole  career  of  the  war,  and 
lost  his  life  at  its  close,  when  making  a  reconnoissance,  as  adju 
tant-general,  before  the  redoubts  at  Yorktown.  There  he  fell. 
He  lies  buried  in  the  graveyard  at  Williamsburg.  An  affection 
ate  friend  and  comrade,  General  Henry  Dearborn,  took  pains  to 
search  out  the  spot  where  his  remains  were  buried.  He  could 
find  no  more,  than  that  they  lay  somewhere  in  that  consecrated 
burial-ground.  A  braver  or  a  better  man  did  not  belong  to  the 
army.  I  never  read  his  history  without  being  much  affected. 
He  left  no  descendants.  He  was  never  married.  His  career 
was  short  and  brilliant,  like  that  of  the  star  that  shoots  across 
the  horizon,  and  goes  out  to  be  seen  no  more.  His  friends  came 
home  from  the  army  full  of  attachment  and  love  for  his  name 
and  fame.  General  John  Brooks,  formerly  Governor  of  this 
State,  beloved  by  every  body  and  distinguished  for  every  virtue, 
named  a  son  for  him,  Alexander  Scammel  Brooks.  This  son 
was  brought  up  to  the  army,  like  his  predecessor  and  namesake, 
and  lost  his  life  in  the  Florida  war.  General  Dearborn,  another 
friend,  also  named  a  son  for  him,  General  Henry  Alexander 
Scammel  Dearborn,  whom  we  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  here 


204      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

to-night.  Colonel  Wadsworth  also  gave  his  name  to  a  son  who 
entered  the  navy,  and  is  now  Commodore  Alexander  Scammel 
Wadsworth. 

The  three  namesakes,  all  about  the  same  age,  and  early  ac 
quaintances  and  friends,  lived  until  the  Florida  war  broke  up 
the  trio,  and  reduced  the  number  to  General  Dearborn  and  Com 
modore  Wadsworth.*  I  wish,  as  a  spontaneous  tribute  of  the 
present  generation,  that  somewhere  within  the  sacred  grounds 
of  the  churchyard  at  Williamsburg,  at  the  expense  of  us,  sons 
of  New  Hampshire,  a  monument  should  be  raised  to  the  mem 
ory  of  that  distinguished  soldier. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  no  right  to  occupy  much  of  your  time, 
My  voice  is  a  little  too  familiar  to  you  all.  There  are  others  to 
whom  you  will  listen  with  more  gratification.  I  will  only  refer, 
in  a  very  few  words,  to  the  civil  history  of  this,  our  native  State, 
in  the  past  and  important  era  of  our  history ;  and  in  doing  that, 
I  will  mention  only  the  great  men  who  signed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  those  who  put  their  names  to  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States.  The  Declaration  of  Independence, 
on  the  part  of  New  Hampshire,  was  signed,  in  the  first  place,  by 
Josiah  Bartlett.  He  was  an  unostentatious  man,  but  able,  sen 
sible,  and  patriotic.  He  left  numerous  descendants,  and  there 
are  here  those  who  belong  to  his  family  and  kindred.  General 
William  Whipple  was  another  who  signed  the  Declaration.  He 
left  no  descendants ;  nothing  but  his  character,  his  name,  and 
his  fame.  Dr.  Matthew  Thornton  was  a  third.  And  his  de 
scendants  are  in  New  Hampshire,  in  Boston,  and  elsewhere  in 
the  country ;  some  of  them  now  in  this  hall.  Dr.  Thornton  was 
one  of  the  most  ardent  sons  of  liberty,  but  was,  as  it  happened 
not  at  Philadelphia  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  when  the  vote  was 
passed.  He  hurried  immediately  to  Philadelphia.  You  know 
that  the  official  resolutions  of  Independence  were  only  to  be 
signed  by  the  President.  But  a  Declaration,  for  individual  sig 
natures,  was  drawn  up.  The  first  of  the  members  who  signed, 
after  the  President,  was  Josiah  Bartlett,  of  New  Hampshire  ; 
the  next  was  William  Whipple  of  New  Hampshire.  Matthew 
Thornton  did  not  sign  immediately,  because  he  was  not  there. 
Others  went  on  to  sign ;  and  the  Massachusetts  delegation,  you 

*  Commodore  Wadsworth  is  since  deceased. 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire   205 

remember,  signed  next  to  the  two  members  from  New  Hamp 
shire.  Thornton  hastened  back  to  his  post  to  sign  with  the  rest, 
and  the  nearest  place  to  his  colleagues  he  could  find  was  at  the 
bottom  of  the  right-hand  column ;  and  there  it  stands,  "  Matthew 
Thornton." 

Well,  Gentlemen,  we  now  come  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  John  Langdon  and  Nicholas  Oilman  represented 
New  Hampshire  in  the  Convention  of  1789.  Mr.  Langdon  has 
left  descendants  behind  him,  honorable  and  worthy.  An  excel 
lent  woman,  a  daughter,  still  lives,  esteemed  and  regarded  by 
all  who  know  her.*  Nicholas  Oilman,  of  a  family  always  an 
honor  to  his  native  State,  and  some  of  whom  I  dare  say  are 
here  to-night,  left  no  children 

At  this  period,  without  disturbing  individual  opinions  or  party 
feelings,  I  may  speak  of  some  of  the  early  members  of  Congress. 
When  the  Constitution  first  went  into  operation,  the  members 
from  New  Hampshire  assisted  in  forming  the  original  organic 
laws,  were  confided  in  by  the  first  President  of  the  United  States 
and  did  all  that  they  could  do  to  put  the  machine  in  operation. 
At  the  head  of  this  list  was  Samuel  Livermore,  the  father  of 
several  gentlemen  of  respectability  in  public  life,  in  the  State 
and  in  the  national  councils.  Jeremiah  Smith  and  William 
Gordon,  also,  both  men  of  talent  and  industry,  and  warm  friends 
of  the  first  President,  sat  in  Congress  with  high  reputation. 

This,  Gentlemen,  was  the  history,  the  early  history,  of  our 
State,  as  one  of  the  Union,  so  far  as  we  may  summarily  com 
ment  upon  it  here  to-night. 

In  regard  to  the  military  character  of  her  Revolutionary  heroes, 
and  her  early  statesmen,  and  in  regard  to  every  thing  which  was 
done,  or  ought  to  have  been  done,  or  was  expected  to  be  done, 
to  bring  New  Hampshire  honorably  and  respectably  into  the 
great  circle  of  our  Union,  Gentlemen,  I  leave  all  this  for  abler 
tongues,  fresher  recollections,  and  more  persuasive  accents.  I 
sit  down  myself,  filled  with  profound  veneration  for  the  char 
acter  of  my  native  State,  and  acknowledging  to  her  my  own 
personal  debt  for  her  culture  and  nurture,  and  determined,  so  far 
as  in  me  lies,  to  transmit  the  sense  of  that  obligation  to  those 
who  shall  come  after  me. 

*  Mrs.  Langdon-Elwyn,  now  [1851]  of  Philadelphia. 


206       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

After  many  other  gentlemen  had  addressed  the  company,  Mr.  Web 
ster  again  rose,  and  spoke  as  follows :  — 

THE  regular  toasts  have  now  been  gone  through.  I  have 
occupied  this  chair  as  long  as  it  seems  to  be  convenient,  and, 
with  a  few  parting  words,  I  propose  to  resign  it  to  another. 

Gentlemen,  departing  from  the  character  of  particular  States, 
leaving  for  the  present  the  agreeable  thoughts  that  have  enter 
tained  us,  of  our  own  homes  and  our  own  origin,  it  appears  to 
me,  before  we  part,  that  it  is  not  improper  that  we  should  call 
to  our  attention  the  marked  character  of  the  age  in  which  we 
live,  and  the  great  part  that,  in  the  dispensations  of  Divine 
Providence,  we  are  called  upon  to  act  in  it. 

To  act  our  part  well,  as  American  citizens,  as  members  of 
this  great  republic,  we  must  understand  that  part,  and  the  duties 
which  it  devolves  upon  us.  We  cannot  expect  to  blunder  into 
propriety,  or  into  greatness  of  action.  We  must  learn  the  char 
acter  of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  we  must  learn  our  own  place 
as  a  great  and  leading  nation  in  that  age,  we  must  learn  to  ap 
preciate  justly  our  own  position  and  character,  as  belonging  to 
a  government  of  a  particular  form,  and  we  must  act,  in  every 
case,  and  upon  all  subjects,  as  becomes  our  relations. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  I  venture  to  say,  here  and  everywhere,  in 
the  face  of  the  world,  that  there  is  not  on  earth  any  country,  at 
the  present  moment,  so  interesting  as  the  United  States.  I  do 
not  say,  no  country  so  strong,  so  rich,  so  beautiful,  so  high  or 
commanding ;  but  I  say,  no  country  so  interesting,  no  country 
that  sets  such  an  example  before  the  world  of  self-government, 
no  country  around  which  so  many  hopes  and  so  many  fears 
cluster,  no  country  in  regard  to  which  the  world  with  so  much 
earnestness  inquires,  "  What  will  she  come  to  ?  " 

I  need  not  say  that  we  are  at  the  head  of  this  continent. 
Who  denies  that  ?  Who  doubts  it  ?  Here  are  more  than  twenty 
millions  of  people,  free,  commercial,  and  enterprising,  beyond  ex 
ample.  They  are  spread  over  an  immense  territory,  and  that  ter 
ritory  has  been  lately  increased  by  a  vast  and  an  extraordinary 
addition.  The  country  stretches  from  sea  to  sea,  across  the  whole 
breadth  of  North  America,  and  from  the  tropics  to  the  great 
lakes  and  rivers  of  the  North. 

Forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  an  American  poet  said  to  his  coun 
trymen,  — 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire   207 

"No  pent-up  Utica  contracts  our  powers, 
For  the  whole  boundless  continent  is  ours." 

This  was  poetic ;  but  the  poetry  has  been  advancing,  and  is  still 
advancing,  more  and  more,  to  sober  truth  and  reality. 

But  this  is  not  all,  nor  is  it  the  most  important  point.  We 
are  brought  by  steam,  and  the  improvements  attendant  upon  its 
discovery,  into  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  great  powers 
of  Europe,  living  under  different  forms  of  government;  forms 
in  which  the  aristocratic,  or  the  despotic,  or  the  monarchical  ele 
ment  prevails.  The  United  States,  the  second  commercial 
country  in  the  world,  whose  intercourse  affects  every  other  coun 
try,  have  entered  the  circle,  and  are  become  the  immediate  neigh 
bors  of  them  all.  And  what  is  expected  to  be  the  consequence 
of  this  proximity,  this  contiguity,  this  bringing  the  republican 
practice  into  the  immediate  presence  of  despotism,  monarchy, 
and  aristocracy  ?  This  is  the  philosophical  view  which  attracts 
the  attention  of  the  observant  part  of  mankind  most  strongly, 
and  strikes  us  with  the  greatest  power.  What  is  to  be  the 
result? 

Gentlemen,  between  us  and  the  governments  of  Europe  there 
is  no  political  connection.  They  have  then*  systems,  and  we 
have  ours ;  but  then  their  interests  and  ours  approach,  and 
sometimes  coincide.  Commercial  interests  are  mingling  together 
all  over  the  civilized  world.  The  information  of  mankind  is 
becoming  common  to  all  nations,  and  the  general  tone  of  senti 
ment  common,  in  learned  circles,  and  among  the  masses  of 
intelligent  men.  In  matters  of  science,  taste,  commerce,  in 
questions  of  right  and  justice,  and  matters  of  judicial  adminis 
tration,  we  think  very  much  alike.  But  in  regard  to  the  origin 
of  government,  the  form  of  government,  and,  in  some  cases,  the 
end  and  objects  of  government,  we  differ.  And  yet  it  is  certain 
that,  of  all  human  institutions,  government  is  the  chief,  and  by 
far  the  most  important ;  and  as  the  press,  at  least  to  a  very  great 
extent,  in  modern  times,  is  free,  government,  its  origin,  its  forms, 
its  duties,  its  ends  and  objects,  and  its  practical  administration, 
are  everywhere  a  constant  subject  of  discussion.  Now  that 
steam  has  created  such  a  daily  intercourse,  and  brought  coun 
tries  so  much  nearer  together,  men  of  one  nation  seem  to  talk 
to  those  of  another,  on  political  subjects,  as  on  other  subjects, 
almost  like  inhabitants  of  the  same  city,  or  the  same  county. 


208       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

This  is  a  condition  of  things  novel  and  interesting,  and  worthy 
of  our  reflection.  In  national  relations,  we  sustain  a  rank,  we 
hold  a  certain  place,  and  we  have  high  duties  to  perform.  Of 
course  it  is  our  duty  to  abstain  from  all  interference  in  the  po 
litical  affairs  of  other  countries.  But  then  there  is  one  thing 
which  we  are  bound  to  do.  We  are  bound  to  show  to  the 
whole  world,  in  the  midst  of  which  we  are  placed,  that  a  regu 
lar,  steady,  conservative  government,  founded  on  broad,  popular, 
representative  systems,  is  a  practicable  thing.  We  are  bound  to 
show,  that  there  may  be  such  a  government,  not  merely  for  a 
small,  but  for  a  great  country,  in  which  life  and  property  shall 
be  secure,  religion  and  the  worship  of  the  Deity  observed,  good 
morals  cultivated,  commerce  and  the  arts  encouraged,  and  the 
general  prosperity  of  all  classes  maintained  and  advanced. 

It  strikes  me,  and  I  repeat  the  sentiment  only  to  show  the 
strength  of  my  own  conviction,  that  our  great  destiny  on  earth 
is  to  exhibit  the  practicability  of  good,  safe,  secure,  popular  gov 
ernments  ;  to  prove,  and  I  hope  we  do  prove,  that  there  may  be 
security  for  property,  and  for  personal  rights,  that  there  may  be 
provision  for  the  maintenance  of  religion  and  morals,  for  an 
extensive  diffusion  of  knowledge,  and  for  carrying  all  branches 
of  education  and  culture  to  their  highest  pitch,  by  means  of 
institutions  founded  on  republican  principles.  The  prophecies 
and  the  poets  are  with  us.  Every  body  knows  Bishop  Berke 
ley's  lines,  written  a  hundred  years  ago :  — 

"  There  shall  be  sung  another  golden  age, 

The  rise  of  empire  and  of  arts ; 
The  good  and  great  inspiring  epic  rage, 
The  wisest  heads  and  noblest  hearts." 

"  Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way ; 

The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day  : 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

And  at  a  more  recent  period,  but  still  when  there  was  nothing 
to  be  seen  in  this  vast  North  American  continent  but  a  few 
colonial  settlements,  another  English  poet  suggests  to  his  coun 
try  that  she  shall  see  a  great  nation,  her  own  offspring,  springing 
up,  with  wealth,  and  power,  and  glory,  in  the  New  World :  — 

"  In  other  lands,  another  Britain  see ; 
And  what  thou  art,  America  shall  be.' 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire    209 

But,  in  regard  to  this  country,  there  is  no  poetry  like  the 
poetry  of  events ;  and  all  the  prophecies  lag  behind  their  fulfil 
ment. 

That  is  the  doctrine  which  you,  and  I,  of  America,  are  bound 
to  teach.  Does  any  body  doubt  that,  on  this  broad,  popular 
platform,  there  exists  now,  in  these  United  States,  a  safe  gov 
ernment?  Tell  me  where  there  is  one  safer.  Or  tell  me  of 
any  on  the  face  of  the  Old  World  on  which  public  faith  is 
more  confidently  reposed.  I  say  the  government  of  the  United 
States  is  one  of  the  safest.  I  do  not  know  how  long  it  may 
be  before  it  will  become  one  of  the  oldest  governments  in  the 
world. 

We  are  in  an  age  of  progress.  That  progress  is  towards  self- 
government  by  the  enlightened  portion  of  the  community,  ev 
erywhere.  And  the  great  question  is,  how  this  impulse  can  be 
carried  on,  without  running  to  excess ;  how  popular  govern 
ment  can  be  established,  without  falling  into  licentiousness. 
That  is  the  great  question,  and  we  have  seen  how  difficult  it  is, 
by  those  not  taught  in  the  school  of  experience,  to  establish 
such  a  system. 

It  is  a  common  sentiment  uttered  by  those  who  would  revo 
lutionize  Europe,  that,  to  be  free,  men  have  only  to  will  it.  That 
is  a  fallacy.  There  must  be  prudence  and  a  balancing  of  de 
partments,  and  there  must  be  persons  who  will  teach  the  science 
of  free,  popular  governments ;  and  there  are  but  few,  except  in 
this  country,  who  can  teach  that  science.  We  have  arrived  at 
this  ability  by  an  experience  of  two  hundred  years.  And  how 
has  it  come  ?  Why,  we  are  an  offshoot  of  the  British  constitu 
tion.  In  that  constitution  there  is  a  popular  element,  that  is,  a 
representation  of  the  people.  This  element  is  there  mixed  up 
with  the  monarchical  and  the  aristocratic  elements.  But  our 
ancestors  brought  with  them  no  aristocracy,  and  no  monarchical 
rule,  except  a  general  submission  and  allegiance  to  the  crown 
of  England.  Their  immediate  government  was  altogether  a 
popular  representation;  and  the  country  has  been  thoroughly 
trained,  and  schooled,  in  the  practice  of  such  a  government. 

To  abide  by  the  voice  of  the  representatives  fairly  chosen,  by 
the  edicts  of  those  who  make  the  legislative  enactments,  has 
been  and  is  our  only  system.  From  the  first  settlement  of  the 
colony  at  Plymouth,  through  all  c"u  subsequent  history,  we 

VOL.  IV. —  14 


210      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

have  adhered  to  this  principle.  We  threw  off  the  power  of  the 
king,  and  we  never  admitted  the  power  of  the  Parliament. 
That  was  the  doctrine  of  Adams  and  Jefferson.  That  was  the 
reason  why  the  Parliament  was  not  alluded  to  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  The  Colonies  acknowledged  the  power  of  the 
crown,  but  never  having  acknowledged  the  authority  of  the  Par 
liament,  they  disdained  to  give  any  reason  for  throwing  it  off. 

When  the  Revolution  severed  us  from  the  mother  country, 
we  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  go  on  with  our  elections,  supply 
ing  the  governors  no  longer  appointed  by  the  crown  by  our 
own  election,  thus  making  the  whole  government  popular,  and 
to  proceed  as  at  first.  It  was  in  this  way  that  the  Colonies  of 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  were  enabled,  down  to  a  very 
late  period,  to  continue  their  ancient  constitutions. 

If  you  look  anywhere,  beside  at  France,  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  can  you  find  any  thing  that  bears  the  aspect  of  a  repre 
sentative  government  ?  There  is  nothing.  It  is  very  difficult  to 
establish  a  free  conservative  government  for  the  equal  advance 
ment  of  all  the  interests  of  society.  What  has  Germany  done, 
learned  Germany,  fuller  of  ancient  lore  than  all  the  world  be 
side  ?  What  has  Italy  done,  what  have  they  done  who  dwell 
on  the  spot  where  Cicero  and  Cato  lived  ?  They  have  not  the 
power  of  self-government  which  a  common  town-meeting  with 
us  possesses. 

Yes,  I  say  that  those  persons  who  have  gone  from  our  town- 
meetings  to  dig  gold  in  California,  are  more  fit  to  make  a  re 
publican  government  than  any  body  of  men  in  Germany  or 
Italy,  because  they  have  learned  this  one  great  lesson,  that  there 
is  no  security  without  law,  and  that,  under  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  are  placed,  where  there  is  no  military  authority  to 
overawe  them,  there  is  no  sovereign  will  but  the  will  of  the 
majority;  that  therefore,  if  they  remain,  they  must  submit  to 
that  will. 

It  is  the  prevalence  of  this  general  sentiment  of  obedience  to 
law,  —  that  they  must  have  representatives,  and  that,  if  they  be 
fairly  chosen,  their  edicts  must  stand  for  law,  —  it  is  the  general 
diffusion  of  this  opinion  that  enables  our  people  everywhere  to 
govern  themselves.  Where  they  have  our  habits,  you  will  find 
that  they  will  establish  government  upon  the  foundation  of  a 
free,  popular  constitution,  and  nothing  else. 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire  211 

Now  I  think,  Gentlemen,  that  while  we  prescribe  no  forms, 
while  we  dictate  to  nobody,  our  mission  is  to  show  that  a  con 
stitutional,  representative,  conservative  government,  founded  on 
the  freest  possible  principles,  can  do,  can  do,  for  the  advancement 
of  general  morals  and  the  general  prosperity,  as  much  as  any 
other  government  can  do.  This  is  our  business,  this  our  mission 
among  the  nations ;  and  it  is  a  nobler  destiny,  even,  than  that 
which  Virgil  assigns  to  imperial  Rome. 

"  Excudent  alii  spirantia  mollius  aera, 
Credo  equidem ;  vivos  ducent  de  marmore  vultus  ; 
Orabunt  causas  melius  ;  ccelique  meatus 
Describent  radio,  et  surgentia  sidera  dicent, 
Tu  regere  imperio  populos,  Romane,  memento  ; 
Hae  tibi  erunt  artes,  pacisque  imponere  morem, 
Parcere  subjectis,  et  debettare  superbos." 

Gentlemen,  two  things  are  to  be  maintained  and  insisted  on. 
One,  that  men  in  an  enlightened  age  are  capable  of  self-govern 
ment  ;  that  the  enjoyment  of  equal  rights  is  a  practicable  thing ; 
and  that  freedom  is  not  a  dangerous  thing  for  a  body  politic. 
And  the  other  is,  that  freedom  from  restraint  is  not  FREEDOM  ; 
that  licentiousness,  the  discharge  from  moral  duties,  and  that 
general  scramble  which  leads  the  idle  and  the  extravagant  to 
hope  for  a  time  when  they  may  put  their  hands  into  their  neigh 
bors'  pockets,  call  it  what  you  please,  is  tyranny.  It  is  no  mat 
ter  whether  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  robs  his  subject  of  his  prop 
erty,  or  whether,  under  the  notion  of  equal  rights,  the  property 
earned  by  one  shall  be  taken  from  him  by  a  majority.  I  would 
not  choose  the  latter.  On  the  contrary,  give  me  Turkey,  for  I 
would  prefer  one  despot  to  ten  thousand.  Who  would  labor  if 
there  were  not  a  security  that  what  Lo  earns  will  be  his  own, 
for  his  own  enjoyment,  for  the  education  of  his  children,  for 
the  support  of  his  age,  and  the  gratification  of  all  his  reasonable 
desires  ? 

Gentlemen,  the  events  of  the  past  year  are  many,  and  some 
of  them  most  interesting.  They  seem  to  result  from  an  indefi 
nite  purpose  of  those  who  wish  to  meliorate  the  condition  of 
things  in  Europe.  They  have  had  no  distinct  ideas.  There 
may  be  incidental  benefits  arising  from  the  scenes  of  turmoil 
and  of  blood ;  but  no  general  and  settled  change  for  the  better. 
These  wars  may  somewhat  assuage  the  imperial  sway  of  des- 


212       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

pots.  They  may  serve  to  convince  those  who  hold  despotic 
power,  that  they  may  shake  their  own  thrones  if  they  do  not 
yield  something  to  popular  demands.  In  that  sense  some  good 
may  come  of  these  events. 

Then,  Gentlemen,  there  is  another  aspect.  We  have  all  had 
our  sympathies  much  enlisted  in  the  Hungarian  effort  for  liberty. 
We  have  all  wept  at  its  failure.  We  thought  we  saw  a  more 
rational  hope  of  establishing  free  government  in  Hungary  than 
in  any  other  part  of  Europe,  where  the  question  has  been  in  agi 
tation  within  the  last  twelve  months.  But  despotic  power  from 
abroad  intervened  to  suppress  that  hope. 

And,  Gentlemen,  what  will  come  of  it  I  do  not  know.  For 
my  part,  at  this  moment,  I  feel  more  indignant  at  recent  events 
connected  with  Hungary  than  at  all  those  which  passed  in  her 
struggle  for  liberty.  I  see  that  the  Emperor  of  Russia  demands 
of  Turkey  that  the  noble  Kossuth  and  his  companions  shall  be 
given  up,  to  be  dealt  with  at  his  pleasure.  And  I  see  that  this 
demand  is  made  in  derision  of  the  established  law  of  nations. 
Gentlemen,  there  is  something  on  earth  greater  than  arbitrary 
or  despotic  power.  The  lightning  has  its  power,  and  the  whirl 
wind  has  its  power,  and  the  earthquake  has  its  power ;  but  there 
is  something  among  men  more  capable  of  shaking  despotic 
thrones  than  lightning,  whirlwind,  or  earthquake,  and  that  is, 
the  excited  and  aroused  indignation  of  the  whole  civilized  world. 
Gentlemen,  the  Emperor  of  Russia  holds  himself  to  be  bound 
by  the  law  of  nations,  from  the  fact  that  he  negotiates  with  civil 
ized  nations,  and  that  he  forms  alliances  and  treaties  with  them. 
He  professes,  in  fact,  to  live  in  a  civilized  age,  and  to  govern  an 
enlightened  nation.  I  say  that  if,  under  these  circumstances,  he 
shall  perpetrate  so  great  a  violation  of  national  law  as  to  seize 
these  Hungarians  and  to  execute  them,  he  will  stand  as  a  crim 
inal  and  malefactor  in  the  view  of  the  public  law  of  the  world. 
The  whole  world  will  be  the  tribunal  to  try  him,  and  he  must 
appear  before  it,  and  hold  up  his  hand,  and  plead,  and  abide  its 
judgment. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  is  the  supreme  lawgiver  in  his  own 
country,  and,  for  aught  I  know,  the  executor  of  that  law,  also. 
But,  thanks  be  to  God,  he  is  not  the  supreme  lawgiver  or  exec 
utor  of  national  law,  and  every  offence  against  that  is  an 
offence  against  the  rights  of  the  civilized  world.  If  he  breaks 


Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire  213 

that  law  in  the  case  of  Turkey,  or  any  other  case,  the  whole 
world  has  a  right  to  call  him  out,  and  to  demand  his  punish 
ment. 

Our  rights  as  a  nation,  like  those  of  other  nations,  are  held 
under  the  sanction  of  national  law ;  a  law  which  becomes  more 
important  from  day  to  day ;  a  law  which  none,  who  profess  to 
agree  to  it,  are  at  liberty  to  violate.  Nor  let  him  imagine,  nor 
let  any  one  imagine,  that  mere  force  can  subdue  the  general  sen 
timent  of  mankind.  It  is  much  more  likely  to  diffuse  that  sen 
timent,  and  to  destroy  the  power  which  he  most  desires  to  es 
tablish  and  secure. 

Gentlemen,  the  bones  of  poor  John  Wickliffe  were  dug  out  of 
his  grave,  seventy  years  after  his  death,  and  burnt  for  his  heresy ; 
and  his  ashes  were  thrown  upon  a  river  in  Warwickshire. 
Some  prophet  of  that  day  said :  — 

"  The  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs, 

The  Severn  to  the  sea, 
And  Wickliffe's  dust  shall  spread  abroad, 
Wide  as  the  waters  be." 

Gentlemen,  if  the  blood  of  Kossuth  is  taken  by  an  absolute, 
unqualified,  unjustifiable  violation  of  national  law,  what  will  it 
appease,  what  will  it  pacify  ?  It  will  mingle  with  the  earth,  it 
will  mix  with  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  the  whole  civilized  world 
will  snuff  it  in  the  air,  and  it  will  return  with  awful  retribution 
on  the  heads  of  those  violators  of  national  law  and  universal 
justice.  I  cannot  say  when,  or  in  what  form ;  but  depend  upon 
it,  that  if  such  an  act  take  place,  then  thrones,  and  principalities, 
and  powers,  must  look  out  for  the  consequences. 

And  now,  Gentlemen,  let  us  do  our  part ;  let  us  understand 
the  position  in  which  we  stand,  as  the  great  republic  of  the 
world,  at  the  most  interesting  era  of  its  history  Let  us  consider 
the  mission  and  the  destiny  which  Providence  seems  to  have  de 
signed  for  us,  and  let  us  so  take  care  of  our  own  conduct,  that, 
with  irreproachable  hearts,  and  with  hands  void  of  offence,  we 
may  stand  up  whenever  and  wherever  called  upon,  and,  with  a 
voice  not  to  be  disregarded,  say,  This  shall  not  be  done,  at  least 
not  without  our  protest. 


Pilgrim  Festival  at  New  York  in  1 8  5  o 


Pilgrim  Festival  at  New  York  in  1 850 


AFTER  the  customary  toasts  on  this  occasion  had  been  given,  the 
President  of  the  day,  Mr.  Grinnell,  asked  attention  to  a  toast  which,  as 
he  said,  was  not  on  the  list,  but  which  he  thought  every  one  would  vote 
ought  to  be  placed  there  forthwith.  He  gave,  "  THE  CONSTITUTION  AND 
THE  UNION,  AND  THEIR  CHIEF  DEFENDER."  This  sentiment  was  re 
ceived  with  great  applause  ;  and  when  Mr.  Webster  rose  to  respond 
to  it,  he  was  greeted  with  the  most  prolonged  and  tumultuous  cheers. 
When  the  applause  had  subsided,  he  spoke  as  follows :  — 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SO 
CIETY  OF  NEW  YORK  :  —  Ye  sons  of  New  England !  Ye  brethren 
of  the  kindred  tie !  I  have  come  hither  to-night,  not  without 
some  inconvenience,  that  I  might  behold  a  congregation  whose 
faces  bear  lineaments  of  a  New  England  origin,  and  whose 
hearts  beat  with  full  New  England  pulsations.  I  willingly  make 
the  sacrifice.  I  am  here  to  attend  this  meeting  of  the  Pilgrim 
Society  of  New  York,  the  great  offshoot  of  the  Pilgrim  Society 
of  Massachusetts.  And,  gentlemen,  I  shall  begin  what  I  have 
to  say,  which  is  but  little,  by  tendering  to  you  my  thanks  for 
the  invitation  extended  to  me,  and  by  wishing  you,  one  and  all, 
every  kind  of  happiness  and  prosperity. 

Gentlemen,  this  has  been  a  stormy,  cold,  boisterous,  and  in 
clement  day.  The  winds  have  been  harsh,  the  skies  have  been 
severe ;  and  if  we  had  been  exposed  to  their  rigor ;  if  we  had 
no  shelter  against  this  howling  and  freezing  tempest;  if  we 
were  wan  and  worn  out ;  if  half  of  us  were  sick  and  tired,  and 
ready  to  descend  into  the  grave ;  if  we  were  on  the  bleak  coast 
of  Plymouth,  houseless,  homeless,  with  nothing  over  our  heads 
but  the  heavens,  and  that  God  who  sits  above  the  heavens ;  if 
we  had  distressed  wives  on  our  arms,  and  hungry  and  shivering 


2i 8       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

children  clinging  to  our  skirts,  we  should  see  something,  and  feel 
something,  of  that  scene,  which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  was 
enacted  at  Plymouth  on  the  22d  of  December,  1620. 

Thanks  to  Almighty  God,  who,  from  that  distressed  early 
condition  of  our  fathers,  has  raised  us  to  a  height  of  prosperity 
and  of  happiness  which  they  neither  enjoyed,  nor  could  have 
anticipated !  We  have  learned  much  of  them  ;  they  could  have 
foreseen  little  of  us.  Would  to  God,  my  friends,  that,  when  we 
carry  our  affections  and  our  recollections  back  to  that  period,  we 
could  arm  ourselves  with  something  of  the  stern  virtues  which 
supported  them,  in  that  hour  of  peril,  and  exposure,  and  suffer 
ing  !  Would  to  God  that  we  possessed  that  unconquerable 
resolution,  stronger  than  bars  of  brass  or  iron,  which  strengthened 
their  hearts  ;  that  patience,  "  sovereign  o'er  transmuted  ill,"  and, 
above  all,  that  faith,  that  religious  faith,  which,  with  eyes  fast 
fixed  upon  heaven,  tramples  all  things  earthly  beneath  her  tri 
umphant  feet ! 

Gentlemen,  the  scenes  of  this  world  change.  What  our  an 
cestors  saw  and  felt,  we  shall  not  see  nor  feel.  What  they 
achieved,  it  is  denied  to  us  even  to  attempt.  The  severer  duties 
of  life,  requiring  the  exercise  of  the  stern  and  unbending  virtues, 
were  theirs.  They  were  called  upon  for  the  exhibition  of  those 
austere  qualities,  which,  before  they  came  to  the  Western  wilder 
ness,  had  made  them  what  they  were.  Things  have  changed. 
In  the  progress  of  society,  the  fashions  and  the  habits  of  life,  with 
all  its  conditions,  have  changed.  Their  rigid  sentiments,  and 
their  tenets,  apparently  harsh  and  exclusive,  we  are  not  called 
on,  in  every  respect,  to  imitate  or  commend ;  or  rather  to  imi 
tate,  for  we  should  commend  them  always,  when  we  consider 
the  state  of  society  in  which  they  had  been  adopted,  and  in 
which  they  seemed  necessary.  Our  fathers  had  that  religious 
sentiment,  that  trust  in  Providence,  that  determination  to  do 
right,  and  to  seek,  through  every  degree  of  toil  and  suffering, 
the  honor  of  God,  and  the  preservation  of  their  liberties,  which 
we  shall  do  well  to  cherish,  to  imitate,  and  to  equal,  to  the  ut 
most  of  our  ability.  It  may  be  true,  and  it  is  true,  that  in  the 
progress  of  society  the  milder  virtues  have  come  to  belong  more 
especially  to  our  day  and  our  condition.  The  Pilgrims  had  been 
great  sufferers  from  intolerance ;  it  was  not  unnatural  that  their 
own  faith  and  practice,  as  a  consequence,  should  become  some- 


The   Landing   of  the    Pilgrims 

From  the  original  Painting  by  Henry  Sargent, 
Pilgrim  Society,  Plymouth 


Pilgrim  Festival  at  New  York  in  1 8  5  o    219 

what  intolerant.  This  is  the  common  infirmity  of  human  na 
ture.  Man  retaliates  on  man.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  however, 
that  the  greater  spread  of  the  benignant  principles  of  religion, 
of  the  divine  charity  of  Christianity,  has,  to  some  extent,  im 
proved  the  sentiments  which  prevailed  in  the  world  at  that  time. 
No  doubt  the  "  first-comers,"  as  they  were  called,  were  attached 
to  then*  own  forms  of  public  worship,  and  to  their  own  particu 
lar  and  strongly  cherished  religious  opinions.  No  doubt  they 
esteemed  those  sentiments,  and  the  observances  which  they 
practised,  to  be  absolutely  binding  on  all,  by  the  authority  of  the 
word  of  God.  It  is  true,  I  think,  in  the  general  advancement 
of  human  intelligence,  that  we  find,  what  they  do  not  seem  to 
have  found,  that  a  greater  toleration  of  religious  opinion,  a  more 
friendly  feeling  towards  all  who  profess  reverence  for  God  and 
obedience  to  his  commands,  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  great 
and  fundamental  principles  of  religion ;  I  might  rather  say,  is 
itself  one  of  those  fundamental  principles.  So  we  see  in  our 
day,  I  think,  without  any  departure  from  the  essential  principles 
of  our  fathers,  a  more  enlarged  and  comprehensive  Christian 
philanthropy.  It  seems  to  be  the  American  destiny,  the  mission 
which  has  been  intrusted  to  us  here  on  this  shore  of  the  Atlantic, 
the  great  conception  and  the  great  duty  to  which  we  are  born, 
to  show  that  all  sects,  and  all  denominations,  professing  rever 
ence  for  the  authority  of  the  Author  of  our  being,  and  belief  in 
his  revelations,  may  be  safely  tolerated  without  prejudice  either 
to  our  religion  or  to  our  liberties. 

We  are  Protestants,  generally  speaking;  but  you  all  know 
that  there  presides  at  the  head  of  the  supreme  judicature  of  the 
United  States  a  Roman  Catholic;  and  no  man,  I  suppose, 
through  the  whole  United  States,  imagines  that  the  judicature 
of  the  country  is  less  safe,  that  the  administration  of  public  jus 
tice  is  less  respectable  or  less  secure,  because  the  Chief  Justice 
of  the  United  States  has  been,  and  is,  a  firm  adherent  of  that 
religion.  And  so  it  is  in  every  department  of  society  amongst 
us.  In  both  houses  of  Congress,  in  all  public  offices,  and  all 
public  affairs,  we  proceed  on  the  idea  that  a  man's  religious  be 
lief  is  a  matter  above  human  law ;  that  it  is  a  question  to  be 
settled  between  him  and  his  Maker,  because  he  is  responsible  to 
none  but  his  Maker  for  adopting  or  rejecting  revealed  truth. 
And  here  is  the  great  distinction  which  is  sometimes  overlooked, 


220       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

and  which  I  am  afraid  is  now  too  often  overlooked,  in  this  land, 
the  glorious  inheritance  of  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims.  Men,  for 
their  religious  sentiments,  are  accountable  to  God,  and  to  God 
only.  Religion  is  both  a  communication  and  a  tie  between 
man  and  his  Maker ;  and  to  his  own  master  every  man  standeth 
or  falleth.  But  when  men  come  together  in  society,  establish 
social  relations,  and  form  governments  for  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  all,  then  it  is  indispensable  that  this  right  of  private 
judgment  should  in  some  measure  be  relinquished  and  made 
subservient  to  the  judgment  of  the  whole.  Religion  may  exist 
while  every  man  is  left  responsible  only  to  God.  Society,  civil 
rule,  the  civil  state,  cannot  exist,  while  every  man  is  responsible 
to  nobody  and  to  nothing  but  to  his  own  opinion.  And  our 
New  England  ancestors  understood  all  this  quite  well.  Gentle 
men,  there  is  the  "  Constitution  "  which  was  adopted  on  board 
the  Mayflower  in  November,  1620,  while  that  bark  of  immor 
tal  memory  was  riding  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Cape  Cod. 
What  is  it  ?  Its  authors  honored  God ;  they  professed  to  obey 
all  his  commandments,  and  to  live  ever  and  in  all  things  in  his 
obedience.  But  they  say,  nevertheless,  that  for  the  establish 
ment  of  a  civil  polity,  and  for  the  greater  security  and  preserva 
tion  of  their  civil  rights  and  liberties,  they  agree  that  the  laws 
and  ordinances,  acts  and  constitutions,  (and  I  am  glad  they  put  in 
the  word  "  constitutions")  —  they  say  that  these  laws  and  ordi 
nances,  acts  and  constitutions •,  which  may  be  established  by  those 
whom  they  shall  appoint  to  enact  them,  they,  in  all  due  sub 
mission  and  obedience,  will  support. 

This  constitution  is  not  long.  I  will  read  it.  It  invokes  a 
religious  sanction  and  the  authority  of  God  on  their  civil  obli 
gations  ;  for  it  was  no  doctrine  of  theirs  that  civil  obedience  is  a 
mere  matter  of  expediency.  Here  it  is :  — 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen  :  We,  whose  names  are  underwritten, 
the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereign  lord,  King  James,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland,  king,  defender 
of  the  Faith,  &c.,  having  undertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  ad 
vancement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  honor  of  our  king  and  country,  a 
voyage  to  plant  the  first  colony  in  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia,  do  by 
these  presents  solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  one  of 
another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a  civil  body  pol 
itic,  for  our  better  ordering  and  preservation,  and  furtherance  of  the 


Pilgrim  Festival  at  New  York  in  i  8  5  o    221 

ends  aforesaid,  and  by  virtue  hereof  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame  such 
just  and  equal  laws  and  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  and  offices,  from 
time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient  for  the  gen 
eral  good  of  the  colony  ;  unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission  and 
obedience." 

The  right  ot  private  judgment  in  matters  between  the  Creator 
and  the  individual,  and  submission  and  obedience  to  the  will 
of  the  whole,  in  all  that  respects  civil  polity,  and  the  adminis 
tration  of  such  affairs  as  concerned  the  colony  about  to  be  es 
tablished,  they  regarded  as  entirely  consistent ;  and  the  common 
sense  of  mankind,  lettered  and  unlettered,  everywhere  estab 
lishes  and  confirms  this  sentiment.  Indeed,  all  must  see  that  it 
is  the  very  ligament,  the  very  tie,  which  connects  man  to  man, 
in  the  social  system ;  and  these  sentiments  are  embodied  in  that 
constitution.  Discourse  on  this  topic  might  be  enlarged,  but  T 
pass  from  it. 

Gentlemen,  we  are  now  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  from 
that  great  event.  There  is  the  Mayflower.*  There  is  an  imita 
tion  on  a  small  scale,  but  a  correct  one,  of  the  Mayflower.  Sons 
of  New  England !  there  was  in  ancient  times  a  ship  that  car 
ried  Jason  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  There  was 
a  flag-ship  at  the  battle  of  Actium  which  made  Augustus  Caesar 
master  of  the  world.  In  modern  times,  there  have  been  flag 
ships  which  have  carried  Hawke,  and  Howe,  and  Nelson  of  the 
other  continent,  and  Hull,  and  Decatur,  and  Stewart  of  this,  to 
triumph.  What  are  they  all,  in  the  chance  of  remembrance 
among  men,  to  that  little  bark,  the  Mayflower,  which  reached 
these  shores  on  the  22d  day  of  December,  1620  ?  Yes,  brethren 
of  New  England,  yes !  that  Mayflower  was  a  flower  destined  to 
be  of  perpetual  bloom !  Its  verdure  will  stand  the  sultry  blasts 
of  summer,  and  the  chilling  winds  of  autumn.  It  will  defy 
winter ;  it  will  defy  all  climate,  and  all  time,  and  will  continue 
to  spread  its  petals  to  the  world,  and  to  exhale  an  ever-living 
odor  and  fragrance,  to  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time. 

Gentlemen,  brethren  of  New  England !  whom  I  have  come 
some  hundreds  of  miles  to  meet  this  night,  let  me  present  to  you 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  those  personages  who  came 
hither  on  the  deck  of  the  Mayflower.  Let  me  fancy  that  I  now 

*  Pointing  to  a  small  figure  of  a  ship,  in  confectionery,  representing  the 
Mayflower,  that  stood  before  him. 


222       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

see  Elder  William  Brewster  entering  the  door  at  the  farther  end 
of  this  hall;  a  tall  and  erect  figure,  of  plain  dress,  of  no  ele 
gance  of  manner  beyond  a  respectful  bow,  mild  and  cheerful, 
but  of  no  merriment  that  reaches  beyond  a  smile.  Let  me  sup 
pose  that  his  image  stood  now  before  us,  or  that  it  was  look 
ing  in  upon  this  assembly. 

"  Are  ye,"  he  would  say,  with  a  voice  of  exultation,  and  yet 
softened  with  melancholy,  "are  ye  our  children?  Does  this 
scene  of  refinement,  of  elegance,  of  riches,  of  luxury,  does  all 
this  come  from  our  labors  ?  Is  this  magnificent  city,  the  like  of 
which  we  never  saw  nor  heard  of  on  either  continent,  is  this  but 
an  offshoot  from  Plymouth  rock  ? 

'  Quis  jam  locus     .... 
Quae  regio  in  terris  nostri  non  plena  laboris? ' 

Is  this  one  part  of  the  great  reward  for  which  my  brethren  and 
myself  endured  lives  of  toil  and  of  hardship  ?  We  had  faith  and 
hope.  God  granted  us  the  spirit  to  look  forward,  and  we  did 
look  forward.  But  this  scene  we  never  anticipated.  Our  hopes 
were  on  another  life.  Of  earthly  gratifications  we  tasted  little ; 
for  human  honors  we  had  little  expectation.  Our  bones  lie  on 
the  hill  in  Plymouth  church -yard,  obscure,  unmarked,  secreted^ 
to  preserve  our  graves  from  the  knowledge  of  savage  foes.  No 
stone  tells  where  we  lie.  And  yet,  let  me  say  to  you  who  are 
our  descendants,  who  possess  this  glorious  country  and  all  it 
contains,  who  enjoy  this  hour  of  prosperity  and  the  thousand 
blessings  showered  upon  it  by  the  God  of  your  fathers,  we  envy 
you  not,  we  reproach  you  not.  Be  rich,  be  prosperous,  be  en 
lightened.  Live  in  pleasure,  if  such  be  your  allotment  on  earth ; 
but  live,  also,  always  to  God  and  to  duty.  Spread  yourselves 
and  your  children  over  the  continent,  accomplish  the  whole  of 
your  great  destiny,  and  if  it  be  that  through  the  whole  you 
carry  Puritan  hearts  with  you,  if  you  still  cherish  an  undying 
love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  mean  to  enjoy  them  your 
selves,  and  are  willing  to  shed  your  heart's  blood  to  transmit 
them  to  your  posterity,  then  will  you  be  worthy  descendants  of 
Carver  and  Allerton  and  Bradford,  and  the  rest  of  those  who 
landed  from  stormy  seas  on  the  rock  of  Plymouth." 

Gentlemen,  that  little  vessel,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1620, 
made  her  safe  landing  on  the  shore  of  Plymouth.  She  had  been 


Pilgrim  Festival  at  New  York  in  1850    223 

tossed  on  a  tempestuous  ocean ;  she  approached  the  New  Eng 
land  coast  under  circumstances  of  great  distress  and  trouble; 
yet,  amidst  all  the  disasters  of  her  voyage,  she  accomplished  her 
end,  and  she  bore  a  hundred  precious  pilgrims  to  the  shore  of 
the  New  World. 

Gentlemen,  let  her  be  considered  this  night  as  an  emblem  of 
New  England,  the  New  England  which  now  is.  New  England 
is  a  ship,  staunch,  strong,  well  built,  and  particularly  well 
manned.  She  may  be  occasionally  thrown  into  the  trough  of 
the  sea  by  the  violence  of  winds  and  waves,  and  may  wallow 
there  for  a  time ;  but,  depend  upon  it,  she  will  right  herself.  She 
will  ere  long  come  round  to  the  ivind,  and  obey  her  helm. 

We  have  hardly  begun,  my  brethren,  to  realize  the  vast  im 
portance  to  human  society,  and  to  the  history  and  happiness  of 
the  world,  of  the  voyage  of  that  little  vessel  which  brought 
hither  the  love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  the  reverence 
of  the  Bible,  for  the  instruction  of  the  future  generations  of 
men.  We  have  hardly  begun  to  realize  the  consequences  of 
that  voyage.  Heretofore  the  extension  of  our  race,  following 
our  New  England  ancestry,  has  crept  along  the  shore.  But 
now  it  has  extended  itself.  It  has  crossed  the  continent.  It 
has  not  only  transcended  the  Alleghanies,  but  has  capped  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  It  is  now  upon  the  shores  of  the  Pacific ; 
and  on  this  day,  or,  if  not  on  this  day,  then  this  day  twelve 
month,  descendants  of  New  England  will  there  celebrate  the 
landing 

(A  VOICE.     "  To-day ;  they  celebrate  it  to-day.") 

God  bless  them !  Here  's  to  the  health  and  success  of  the 
California  Society  of  Pilgrims  assembled  on  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific.  And  it  shall  yet  go  hard  if  the  three  hundred  millions 
of  people  of  China,  provided  they  are  intelligent  enough  to  un 
derstand  any  thing,  shall  not  one  day  hear  and  know  something 
of  the  rock  of  Plymouth  too. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  am  trespassing  too  long  on  your  time.  I 
am  taking  too  much  of  what  belongs  to  others.  My  voice  is 
neither  a  new  voice  nor  is  it  the  voice  of  a  young  man.  It  has 
been  heard  before  in  this  place;  and  the  most  that  I  have 
thought  or  felt  concerning  New  England  history  and  New  Eng 
land  principles  has  been  before,  in  the  course  of  my  life,  said 
here  or  elsewhere. 


224       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Your  sentiment,  Mr.  President,  which  called  me  up  before  this 
meeting,  is  of  a  larger  and  more  comprehensive  nature.  It 
speaks  of  the  Constitution  under  which  we  live ;  of  the  Union 
which  has  bound  us  together  for  sixty  years,  and  made  us  the 
fellow-citizens  of  those  who  settled  at  Yorktown  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  their  descendants,  and  now,  at 
last,  of  those  who  have  come  from  all  corners  of  the  earth  and 
assembled  in  California.  I  confess  I  have  had  my  doubts 
whether  the  republican  system  under  which  we  live  could  be 
so  vastly  extended  without  danger  of  dissolution.  Thus  far,  I 
willingly  admit,  my  apprehensions  have  not  been  realized.  The 
distance  is  immense ;  the  intervening  country  is  vast.  But  the 
principle  on  which  our  government  is  established,  the  represent 
ative  system,  seems  to  be  indefinitely  expansive ;  and  wherever 
it  does  extend,  it  seems  to  create  a  strong  attachment  to  the 
Union  and  the  Constitution  that  protect  it.  I  believe  Califor 
nia  and  New  Mexico  have  had  new  life  inspired  into  all  their 
people.  They  feel  themselves  partakers  of  a  new  being,  a 
new  creation,  a  new  existence.  They  are  not  the  men  they 
thought  themselves  to  be,  now  that  they  find  they  are  members 
of  this  great  government,  and  hailed  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  I  hope,  in  the  providence  of  God,  as  this 
system  of  States  and  representative  governments  shall  extend, 
that  it  will  be  strengthened.  In  some  respects,  the  tendency  is 
to  strengthen  it.  Local  agitations  will  disturb  it  less.  If  there 
has  been  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  somewhere  south  of  the  Poto 
mac,  and  I  will  not  define  further  where  it  is,  —  if  there  has 
been  dissatisfaction,  that  dissatisfaction  has  not  been  felt  in  Cali 
fornia  ;  it  has  not  been  felt  that  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
It  is  a  localism,  and  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  our  sys 
tem  of  government  is  not  to  be  destroyed  by  localisms.  North 
or  South.  No ;  we  have  our  private  opinions,  State  prejudices, 
local  ideas ;  but  over  all,  submerging  all,  drowning  all,  is  that 
great  sentiment,  that  always,  and  nevertheless,  we  are  all  Amer 
icans.  It  is  as  Americans  that  we  are  known,  the  whole  world 
over.  Who  asks  what  State  you  are  from,  in  Europe,  or  in 
Africa,  or  in  Asia  ?  Is  he  an  American  ?  Does  he  belong  to 
the  United  States  ?  Does  that  flag  protect  him  ?  Does  he  rest 
under  the  eagle  and  the  stars  and  stripes  ?  If  he  does,  all  else 
Is  subordinate  and  of  but  little  concern. 


Pilgrim  Festival  at  New  York  in  1850    225 

Now  it  is  our  duty,  while  we  live  on  the  earth,  to  cherish  this 
sentiment ;  to  make  it  prevail  over  the  whole  country,  even  if 
that  country  should  spread  over  the  whole  continent.  It  is  our 
duty  to  carry  English  principles,  I  mean,  Sir,  [turning  to  Sir 
Henry  Bulwer,]  Anglo-Saxon  American  principles,  over  the 
whole  continent ;  the  great  principles  of  Magna  Charta,  of  the 
English  Revolution,  and  especially  of  the  American  Revolution, 
and  of  the  English  language.  Our  children  will  hear  Shak- 
speare  and  Milton  recited  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  Nay, 
before  that,  American  ideas,  which  are  essentially  and  originally 
English  ideas,  will  penetrate  the  Mexican,  the  Spanish  mind ; 
and  Mexicans  and  Spaniards  will  thank  God  that  they  have  been 
brought  to  know  something  of  civil  liberty,  of  the  trial  by  jury, 
and  of  security  for  personal  rights. 

As  for  the  rest,  let  us  take  courage.  The  day-spring  from  on 
high  has  visited  us ;  the  country  has  been  called  back  to  con 
science  and  to  duty.  There  is  no  longer  imminent  danger  of  dis 
solution  in  these  United  States.  We  shall  live,  and  not  die. 
We  shall  live  as  united  Americans ;  and  those  who  have  sup 
posed  they  could  sever  us,  that  they  could  rend  one  American 
heart  from  another,  and  that  speculation  and  hypothesis,  that 
secession  and  metaphysics,  could  tear  us  asunder,  will  find  them 
selves  wofully  mistaken. 

Let  the  mind  of  the  sober  American  people  remain  sober.  Let 
it  not  inflame  itself.  Let  it  do  justice  to  all.  And  the  truest 
course,  and  the  surest  course,  to  disappoint  those  who  meditate 
disunion,  is  just  to  leave  them  to  themselves,  and  see  what  they 
can  make  of  it.  No,  Gentlemen ;  the  time  for  meditated  seces 
sion  is  past.  Americans,  North  and  South,  will  be  hereafter 
more  and  more  united.  There  is  a  sternness  and  severity  in  the 
public  mind  lately  aroused.  I  believe  that,  North  and  South, 
there  has  been,  in  the  last  year,  a  renovation  of  public  sentiment, 
an  animated  revival  of  the  spirit  of  union,  and,  more  than  all,  of 
attachment  to  the  Constitution,  regarding  it  as  indispensably 
necessary ;  and  if  we  would  preserve  our  nationality,  it  is  indis 
pensable  that  this  spirit  of  devotion  should  be  still  more  largely 
increased.  And  who  doubts  it  ?  If  we  give  up  that  Constitu 
tion,  what  are  we  ?  You  are  a  Manhattan  man ;  I  am  a  Boston 
man.  Another  is  a  Connecticut,  and  another  a  Rhode  Island 
man.  Is  it  not  a  great  deal  better,  standing  hand  to  hand,  and 
VOL.  iv.  — 15 


226      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

clasping  hands,  that  we  should  remain  as  we  have  been  for  sixty 
years,  citizens  of  the  same  country,  members  of  the  same  gov 
ernment,  united  all,  united  now,  and  united  for  ever?  That  we 
shall  be>  Gentlemen.  There  have  been  difficulties,  contentions, 
controversies,  angry  controversies;  but  I  tell  you  that,  in  my 
judgment,  — 

"  those  opposed  eyes, 

Which,  like  the  meteors  of  a  troubled  heaven, 
All  of  one  nature,  of  one  substance  bred, 
Did  lately  meet  in  th'  intestine  shock, 
Shall  now,  in  mutual,  well-beseeming  ranks, 
MARCH  ALL  ONE  WAY." 


Visit  to  Buffalo  in  1851 


Introductory  Note 


IN  the  month  of  May  of  the  present  year  (1851),  the  New  York  and 
Erie  Railroad  was  completed,  and  its  entire  length  thrown  open  to  the 
public,  from  Pyrmont  on  the  North  River  to  Dunkirk  on  Lake  Erie,  a 
distance  of  nearly  five  hundred  miles.  Great  preparations  were  made  to 
celebrate  this  important  event,  along  the  line  of  the  railroad,  and  at  its 
termination  on  Lake  Erie.  The  President  of  the  United  States  (a  citizen 
of  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New  York)  and  the  members  of  his 
Cabinet  were  invited  to  be  present.  Their  reception,  both  at  the  city  of 
New  York  and  along  the  line  of  the  railroad,  was  cordial  and  enthusias 
tic.  At  Dunkirk,  Mr.  Webster  was  detained  by  the  illness  of  his  son, 
and  was  on  that  account  compelled  to  separate  himself  from  the  rest  of 
the  party, 

On  his  arrival  at  Buffalo,  the  citizens  of  that  place,  without  distinction 
of  party,  invited  him  to  a  public  dinner.  They  also  requested  him  to 
address  the  public  in  the  Park.  Similar  invitations  were  tendered  to 
him  at  Rochester,  Syracuse,  Albany,  and  other  places  through  which 
he  passed  on  his  return  to  New  York.  From  the  numerous  speeches 
delivered  by  him  on  these  occasions,  those  at  Buffalo  and  Albany  have 
been  selected  as  containing  the  fullest  exposition  of  Mr.  Webster's  views 
on  the  important  subjects  which  have  engaged  the  public  mind  during 
the  current  year. 

It  may  be  mentioned  as  a  circumstance  strongly  indicating  the  earnest 
wish  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  hear  Mr.  Webster,  that,  though  the  day 
appointed  for  the  public  address  was  extremely  unfavorable,  the  citi 
zens  of  Buffalo  earnestly  requested  that  the  proposed  meeting  should  not 
be  given  up.  Although  it  rained  steadily  for  the  whole  time  that  Mr. 
Webster  was  speaking,  the  audience,  of  which  a  considerable  part  were 
ladies,  showed  no  disposition  to  disperse,  but  listened  to  the  orator 
throughout  with  a  fixed  attention,  interrupted  only  by  continual  bursts  of 
applause. 


Public  Dinner  at  Buffalo 


MR.  MAYOR,  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  BUFFALO, 
I  know  that,  in  regard  to  the  present  condition  of  the  country, 
you  think  as  I  think,  that  there  is  but  one  all-absorbing  ques 
tion,  and  that  is  the  preservation  of  this  Union.  If  I  have 
strength,  I  propose  to  say  something  to  you  and  your  fellow- 
citizens  on  that  subject  to-morrow.  In  this  social  interview  and 
intercourse,  Gentlemen,  I  would  not  aspire  to  such  a  lofty,  all- 
important  theme.  I  desire,  rather,  on  this  occasion,  to  address 
you  as  citizens  of  Buffalo,  many  of  whom  I  have  had  the  pleas 
ure  of  seeing  in  former  times ;  many  of  whom  belong  to  the 
generation  which  has  grown  up  since  I  was  first  here ;  but  with 
all  of  whom  I  feel  a  sympathy  for  the  great  prosperity  which 
has  distinguished  their  city,  and  the  fair  prospect  which  Provi 
dence  holds  out  before  them.  Gentlemen,  I  have  had  the  pleas 
ure  of  being  in  the  good  city  of  Buffalo  three  times  before  this 
visit.  I  came  here  in  1825,  with  my  family,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  Justice  Story  and  his  family.  We  came  mainly  to  see  that 
all  attractive  neighbor  of  yours,  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  I  re 
member  it  was  said,  at  that  time,  there  were  twenty-five  hun 
dred  people  in  Buffalo.  Even  that  was  startling,  because  it  was 
fresh  in  my  recollection  when  it  was  only  a  waste,  and  when, 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  was  called  upon  to  ascertain  the 
value  of  certain  houses  which  were  destroyed  in  the  war  of 
1812.  I  came  here  afterwards,  Gentlemen,  in  1833.  Your 
city  then  had  been  enlarged,  manufactures  were  coming  into 
existence,  prosperity  had  begun.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  address- 

*  A  Speech  delivered  at  a  Public  Dinner  at  Buffalo,  on  the  21st  of  May,  1851. 


232       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

ing  you  or  your  fathers,  or  both,  in  the  park,  and  I  remember  I 
was  told,  among  other  things,  that  I  might  say,  with  safety,  that 
there  were  fifteen  or  eighteen  steamboats  on  Lake  Erie. 

I  remember  another  thing,  Gentlemen,  with  great  satisfac 
tion,  and  I  hope  some  parties  to  that  transaction  are  here.  The 
mechanics  of  Buffalo  did  me  the  great  honor  of  tendering  to 
me  a  present  of  an  article  of  furniture,  made  from  a  great, 
glorious  black-walnut  tree,  which  grew  to  the  south  of  us. 
They  signified  their  desire  to  make  a  table  out  of  that  walnut- 
tree,  and  send  it  to  me.  The  table  was  made,  and  I  accepted  it, 
of  course,  with  great  pleasure.  When  I  left  here  in  July,  the 
tree  was  standing ;  and  in  about  five  weeks  there  was  an  ele 
gant  table,  of  beautiful  workmanship,  sent  to  my  house,  which 
was  then  in  Boston.  When  I  went  to  Marshfield  it  followed 
me  to  the  sea-side,  and  there  it  stands  now,  in  the  best  room 
in  my  house,  and  there  it  will  stand  as  long  as  I  live,  and  I 
hope  as  long  as  the  house  shall  stand.  I  take  this  occasion  to 
reiterate  my  thanks  for  that  beautiful  present.  I  am  proud  to 
possess  it ;  I  am  proud  to  show  it ;  I  am  proud  in  all  the  recol 
lections  that  it  suggests. 

I  was  again  in  Buffalo  some  fourteen  years  ago,  on  my  return 
from  the  West.  That,  I  think,  was  in  July  also.  I  left  the  sea- 
coast  in  May.  It  was  soon  after  the  termination  of  General  Jack 
son's  administration,  and  the  commencement  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's. 
I  travelled  by  the  way  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  and  canals, 
and  so  on  to  the  Ohio ;  and  I  was  on  the  Ohio  River,  I  think, 
at  Wheeling,  on  the  25th  of  May,  when  we  heard  of  the  failure 
of  all  the  banks,  the  breaking  up  of  all  the  credit  of  the  country, 
and  Mr.  Van  Buren's  proclamation  for  an  extra  session  of  Con 
gress.  That  rather  hastened  our  progress.  I  went  by  the  way  of 
Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  Illinois,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
my  fellow-citizens  of  Buffalo  on  my  return.  Now,  Gentlemen, 
it  is  a  great  pleasure  for  me  to  say,  that  between  that  time  and 
the  present  the  population  of  your  city  has  augmented  at  least 
one  hah0;  and  here  is  Buffalo,  a  city  of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants. 

It  is,  undoubtedly,  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  age  and  of  this 
country.  I  enjoy  it,  Gentlemen,  with  a  degree  of  pleasure  infe 
rior  only  to  your  own,  because  we  are  of  the  same  country,  be 
cause  we  participate  in  the  same  destiny,  and  because  we  are 
bound  to  the  same  fate  for  good  or  evil.  All  that  is  my  interest 


Public  Dinner  at  Buffalo  233 

is  your  interest,  and  I  feel  it  to  be  so ;  and  there  is  not  in  this 
region,  or  beyond  the  Lakes,  a  city  planned,  a  tree  felled,  a  field 
of  wheat  planted,  or  any  other  mark  of  prosperity,  in  which 
I,  for  one,  do  not  take  an  interest.  But  then,  Gentlemen,  one 
thing  strikes  me.  You  are  all  a  young  race  here.  Here  is  my 
friend  near  me.*  We  were  young  men  together.  It  seems  to 
me  but  a  short  time  ago,  and  here  we  are.  Now,  whom  do  I 
see  around  me  here  ?  Why,  the  rising  generation  have  taken 
possession  of  Buffalo.  Ye  fathers,  be  frightened!  Ye  grand 
fathers,  be  alarmed !  The  youth  of  Buffalo  have  taken  posses 
sion  of  the  city.  But  then,  you  unmarried  women  of  Buffalo, 
and  you,  young  wives  of  Buffalo,  be  neither  frightened  nor 
alarmed ;  for  those  who  have  taken  possession  will  be  your  pro 
tectors.  And  I  believe  that  this  is  true  throughout  the  whole 
county  of  Erie.  The  strong  arms  of  young  men  till  the  soil. 
The  vigorous  resolution  which  takes  hold  of  any  improvement, 
and  sustains  every  public  project,  takes  counsel,  no  doubt,  from 
age  and  experience ;  but  young  men  in  this  country  push  for 
ward  every  thing ;  complete  every  thing. 

Gentlemen,  I  need  not  say  that  this  great  neighborhood  of 
yours,  and  this  great  State  of  yours,  are  full  of  things  most 
striking  to  the  eye  and  to  the  imagination.  The  spectacle  which 
your  State  presents,  the  waters  of  New  York,  the  natural  phe 
nomena  of  New  York,  are  exciting  to  a  very  high  degree.  There 
is  this  noble  river,  the  Niagara;  the  noble  lake  from  which  it 
issues ;  there  are  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  the  wonder  of  the  world, 
and  the  numerous  lakes  and  rivers  of  a  secondary  class.  Why, 
how  many  things  are  there  in  this  great  State  of  New  York 
that  attract  the  wonder  and  draw  the  attention  of  Europe !  I 
had  the  pleasure,  some  years  ago,  of  being  a  few  weeks  in 
Europe,  and  every  one  asked  me  how  long  it  took  to  go  to 
Niagara  Falls.  New  York,  in  all  its  relations,  in  its  falls,  its 
rivers,  and  secondary  waters,  is  attractive  to  all  the  world.  But 
then  there  is  New  York,  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Gentle 
men,  the  commercial  character  so  far  pervades  the  minds  of 
commercial  men  all  over  the  world,  that  there  are  many  men, 
who  are  very  respectable  and  intelligent,  who  do  not  seem  to 
know  there  is  any  thing  in  the  United  States  but  New  York. 

*  Hon.  Albert  H.  Tracy. 


234       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

When  I  was  in  England,  it  was  asked  of  me  if  I  did  not  come 
from  New  York.  I  told  them  my  wife  came  from  New  York. 
That  is  something.  Well,  Gentlemen,  I  had  the  honor,  one 
day,  to  be  invited  to  a  state  dinner,  by  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon 
don.  He  was  a  portly  and  a  dignified  gentleman.  He  had  a 
big  wig  on  his  head,  all  powdered  and  ribboned  down  behind, 
and  I  had  the  honor  to  sit  between  him  and  the  Lady  May 
oress  ;  and  there  were  three  hundred  guests,  with  all  the  luxu 
ries  and  gorgeousness  of  the  Lord  Mayor's  dinner.  Soon  after 
the  cloth  was  removed,  his  Lordship  thought  proper  to  take  no 
tice  of  his  American  guest.  He  seemed  not  to  know  exactly 
who  I  was.  He  knew  I  was  a  Senator;  but  he  seemed  to 
have  but  little  idea  of  any  place  in  the  United  States  but  New 
York.  He  arose :  "  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "I  give  you  the  health 
of  Mr.  Webster,  a  member  of  the  upper  Senate  of  New  York." 
Well,  it  was  a  great  honor  to  be  a  member  of  any  Senate  of 
New  York,  but  if  there  was  an  upper  Senate,  to  be  a  member  of 
that  would  be  a  great  honor  indeed. 

Gentlemen,  New  York,  the  State  of  New  York,  —  let  me  in 
dulge  in  a  moment's  reflection  on  that  great  theme !  It  has  so 
happened,  in  the  dispensation  of  things,  that  New  York  stretches 
from  east  to  west  entirely  across  the  country.  Your  fellow-citi 
zens,  to-day,  are  eating  clams  at  Montauk  Point,  seven  hundred 
miles  from  this  spot,  and  you  are  regaling  on  lake  trout.  You 
stretch  along  and  divide  the  whole  country.  New  York  extends 
from  the  frontier  of  Canada  to  the  sea,  and  divides  the  Southern 
States  from  the  Eastern.  Here  she  is  with  two  heads ;  one  down 
at  New  York,  and  the  other  at  Buffalo,  like  a  double-headed 
snake.  Well,  what  are  you  to  do  with  her  ?  Fixed,  firm,  and 
immovable,  there  she  is.  It  has  pleased  Heaven,  in  assigning 
her  a  position  in  the  configuration  of  the  earth's  surface,  to  cause 
her  to  divide  the  whole  South  from  the  East,  and  she  does  so, 
physically  and  geographically.  As  she  stretches  here,  in  the 
whole  length  and  breadth,  she  divides  the  Southern  from  the 
Eastern  States.  But  that  is  her  inferior  destiny,  her  lower  char 
acteristic  ;  for,  if  I  do  not  mistake  all  auguries,  her  higher  des 
tiny  is  likewise  to  unite  all  the  States  in  one  political  union. 

Gentlemen,  nothing  so  fills  my  imagination,  or  comes  up  so 
nearly  to  my  idea  of  what  constitutes  a  great,  enterprising,  and 
energetic  state,  as  those  things  which  have  been  accomplished  by 


Public  Dinner  at  Buffalo  235 

New  York  in  reference  to  commerce  and  internal  improvements, 
I  honor  you  for  it.  When  I  consider  that  your  canal  runs  from 
the  Lakes  to  tide-water ;  when  I  consider,  also,  that  you  have 
had  for  some  years  a  railroad  from  the  Lakes  to  tide-water ;  and 
when  I  examine,  as  I  have  just  examined,  that  stupendous  work, 
hung  up,  as  it  were,  in  the  air,  on  the  southern  range  of  moun 
tains  from  New  York  to  Lake  Erie;  when  I  consider  the  energy, 
the  power,  the  indomitable  resolution,  which  effected  all  this,  I 
bow  with  reverence  to  the  genius  and  people  of  New  York,  what 
ever  political  party  may  lead,  or  however  wrongly  I  may  deem 
any  of  them  to  act  in  other  respects.  It  takes  care  of  itself,  it  is 
true  to  itself,  it  is  true  to  New  York ;  and  being  true  to  itself,  it 
goes  far,  in  my  opinion,  in  establishing  the  interest  of  the  whole 
country.  For  one,  I  wish  it  so  to  proceed.  I  know  that  there 
are  questions  of  a  local  and  State  character  with  which  I  have 
nothing  to  do.  I  know  there  is  a  proposition  to  make  this 
canal  of  yours  greater  and  broader,  to  give  to  New  York  and 
its  commerce,  if  I  may  say  so,  the  power  to  send  forth  what  it 
has  with  greater  facility.  I  know  not  how  that  may  comport 
with  State  politics  or  State  arrangements,  but  I  shall  be  happy 
to  see  the  day  when  there  shall  be  no  obstruction  or  hinderance 
to  any  article  of  trade  or  commerce  going  out  right,  straight  and 
strong,  with  breadth  enough  and  margin  enough  and  room 
enough  to  carry  all  to  its  market.  May  I  say,  Gentlemen,  that 
a  broad,  deep,  and  ample  canal  realizes,  and  more  than  realizes, 
what  the  poet  has  said  of  the  River  Thames :  — 

"  O,  could  I  flow  like  thee,  and  make  thy  stream 
My  great  example,  as  it  is  my  theme  ! 
Though  deep,  yet  clear,  though  gentle,  yet  not  dull, 
Strong  without  rage,  without  o'erflowing,  full." 

But,  Gentlemen,  there  are  other  things  about  this  State  of 
yours.  You  are  here  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie.  You  look  out 
on  the  far  expanse  of  the  West.  Who  have  come  here  ?  Of 
whom  are  you  composed?  You  are  already  a  people  of  fifty 
thousand,  a  larger  population  than  that  of  any  New  England 
city  except  Boston ;  and  yet  you  are  but  of  yesterday.  Who 
are  your  inhabitants  ?  A  great  many  of  them  are  my  country 
men  from  the  East,  and  I  see  them  with  pleasure.  But  these 
are  not  all ;  there  are  also  Irish  and  Germans.  I  suppose,  on 


236       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

the  whole  and  in  the  main,  they  are  safe  citizens ;  at  any  rate, 
they  appear  well  disposed,  and  they  constitute  a  large  portion 
of  your  population.  That  leads  us  to  consider  generally  what  is 
the  particular  position  of  our  country,  and  of  your  city,  as  one 
of  the  great  outlets  to  the  West,  in  regard  to  this  foreign  immi 
gration.  The  emigration  to  this  country  is  enormous ;  it  comes 
from  Ireland,  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  almost  every  other 
part  of  Continental  Europe.  I  remember  it  used  to  be  a  simile, 
when  any  thing  of  a  sudden  or  energetic  nature  took  place,  to 
say  that  it  "  broke  out  like  an  Irish  rebellion,  forty  thousand 
strong,  when  nobody  expected  it."  Forty  thousand  strong  does 
not  begin  to  compare  with  the  emigration  to  the  United  States. 
Emigration  comes  here  with  a  perfect  rush  from  every  part  of 
Ireland ;  from  Limerick  and  the  Shannon,  from  Dublin  and 
from  Cork,  from  the  Northern  ports,  from  Londonderry  and 
Belfast.  Into  this  country  they  come,  and  will  continue  to  come ; 
it  is  in  the  order  of  things,  and  there  is  no  possibility  of  prevent 
ing  it.  Gentlemen,  it  is  about  three  centuries  and  a  half  since 
Columbus  discovered  America,  and  he  came  here  by  authority 
of  the  Spanish  government.  He  gathered  up  some  gold,  and 
went  back  with  a  great  name.  It  is  a  much  shorter  time  since 
the  Irish  discovered  America,  and  they  come  in  much  greater 
numbers ;  but  they  don't  come  here  with  the  idea  of  carrying 
back  money,  or  fame,  or  a  name;  they  mean  to  abide  here. 
They  come  to  remain  among  us,  and  to  be  of  us,  and  to  take 
their  chances  among  us.  Let  them  come. 

There  are  also  Germans.  Your  city,  I  am  told,  has  a  very 
large  number  of  thrifty,  industrious  German  people.  Let  them 
also  come.  If  his  Majesty  of  Austria,  and  the  Austrian  ministry, 
will  allow  them  to  come,  let  them  come.  All  we  desire,  who 
ever  come,  is,  that  they  will  Americanize  themselves ;  that,  for 
getting  the  things  that  are  behind,  they  will  look  forward ;  and 
if  they  look  as  far  as  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  they  will  not  look 
a  rod  too  far.  I  know  that  many  from  Europe  come  here  who 
have  been  brought  up  to  different  pursuits,  to  different  modes 
of  life,  and  to  different  systems  of  agriculture  from  ours ;  but 
I  believe  it  is  generally  true,  that,  when  they  are  removed  from 
the  temptations  of  the  Atlantic  cities,  and  when  they  get  into 
regions  where  trees  are  to  be  felled  and  land  cleared,  they  prove 
themselves  worthy  and  respectable  citizens. 


Public  Dinner  at  Buffalo  237 

And  here,  perhaps,  Gentlemen,  you  will  excuse  me,  if,  with 
out  too  long  a  speech,  I  say  a  little  relative  to  our  American 
system  on  this  subject  of  foreign  immigration.  In  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  declared  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  a  sol 
emn  and  formal  complaint  is  made  against  the  British  king, 
that  he  sought  to  prevent  emigration  from  Europe  to  the  Colo 
nies,  by  refusing  his  assent  to  reasonable  laws  of  naturalization, 
in  consequence  of  which,  it  was  stated,  the  country  did  not  fill 
up  and  the  public  lands  were  not  purchased.  It  is  worthy  the 
attention  of  any  gentleman  who  wishes  to  acquaint  himself  with 
the  early  history  of  the  country  in  this  respect,  to  look  back  to 
the  naturalization  laws  passed  in  the  time  of  Washington. 
Every  one  can  see  what  was  the  prevailing  idea  at  that  period. 
The  idea  of  encouraging  emigration  from  Europe  was  universal, 
and  the  only  desire  was,  that  those  who  wished  to  become  nat 
uralized  should  become  acquainted  with  our  system  of  govern 
ment  before  they  voted ;  that  they  should  have  an  interest  in 
the  country ;  that  they  might  not  be  led  away  by  every  design 
ing  demagogue.  At  that  day,  nobody  foresaw  such  growth  and 
such  enlargement  in  the  commerce  of  the  country  as  we  now 
see;  and,  therefore,  in  the  early  periods  of  Washington's  admin 
istration,  they  were  looking  to  see  how  they  should  pay  the  debt 
of  the  Revolution.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  it  now,  their 
great  resource  to  pay  their  debt  was,  as  they  thought,  the  public 
domain.  They  had  obtained  from  the  separate  States,  before 
the  Constitution  was  formed,  a  grant  of  the  Northwest  Terri 
tory,  which  was  known  to  be  capable  of  furnishing  great  prod 
ucts  by  agricultural  labor.  The  Congress  of  that  day  looked 
to  this.  They  had  no  idea  how  sudden  would  be  the  great  in 
crease  of  our  commerce,  or  how  plentiful  would  be  the  revenue 
from  that  source ;  and  therefore  their  great  care  was  to  see  how 
far  they  could  encourage  foreign  immigration  (which,  it  was 
expected,  would  bring  capital  into  the  country),  consistently 
with  such  a  conformity  to  our  American  system  and  our  Amer 
ican  institutions  as  would  render  immigration  safe,  and  not  dan 
gerous,  to  the  common  weal. 

Gentlemen,  we  are  not  arbiters  of  our  own  fate.  Human 
foresight  falters  and  fails.  Who  could  foresee  or  conjecture  at 
that  day  what  our  eyes  now  see  and  behold  ?  We  see  this  for 
good  or  for  evil.  Nor  could  we  stay  this  immigration  if  we 


238       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

would.  We  see  there  is  a  rush  of  people  from  Europe  to  America 
that  exceeds,  in  a  single  month,  and  at  the  single  port  of  New 
York,  the  population  of  many  single  cities  on  the  Atlantic  coast 
This  is  the  case,  and  it  is  to  be  met  and  to  be  considered.  It 
would  be  foolish  to  attempt  to  obstruct  it,  if  obstruction  were 
possible.  The  thing  cannot  be  done.  You  may  remember,  Gen 
tlemen,  (though  I  ought  not  to  suppose  that  you  remember 
much  about  it,)  that,  in  the  correspondence  with  Lord  Ashbur- 
ton,  who  came  out  here  to  negotiate  the  treaty  of  1842,  we  ex 
amined  the  subject  of  the  impressment  of  American  citizens. 
Up  to  that  day,  England  had  insisted  on  the  right  to  visit  every 
American  ship  in  time  of  war,  and,  if  she  found  any  English 
men,  Irishmen,  or  Welshmen  on  board  of  her,  to  press  them  into 
her  service,  on  the  ground  that  they  could  not  transfer  their 
allegiance.  I  need  not  say  that  this  subject  had  often  been  a 
matter  of  negotiation.  It  was  at  one  time  suggested  by  the 
British  minister,  that  the  right  should  be  exercised  only  within 
certain  latitudes.  At  another  time,  it  was  suggested  that  this 
right  should  not  be  extended  to  the  deprivation  of  any  American 
vessel  of  her  crew.  Gentlemen,  I  don't  know  that  I  ought  to  say 
it,  but  with  your  permission  I  will  say,  that  on  that  occasion  the 
ground  was  taken  that  every  man  on  board  of  an  American 
vessel,  either  mercantile  or  naval,  was  protected  by  the  flag  of 
America.  No  matter  if  his  speech  did  betray  him,  no  matter 
what  brogue  was  on  his  tongue,  if  the  stars  and  stripes  were 
over  him,  he  was  for  that  purpose,  while  on  board  an  Amer 
ican  vessel,  an  American  citizen.  Well,  Gentlemen,  from  that 
day  to  this,  we  have  heard  of  no  pretensions  on  the  part  of  the 
British  government  that  it  could  send  an  officer  on  board  of  any 
American  ship  and  take  from  her  any  human  being  whatever, 
and,  I  venture  to  add,  we  never  shall. 

Lord  Ashburton,  with  whom  I  negotiated  and  corresponded 
on  that  occasion,  was  a  judicious  and  wise  man.  He  had  been 
a  good  deal  in  this  country.  He  was  married  in  this  country. 
He  knew  something  of  it ;  and  he  saw  various  relations  between 
this  country  and  England  in  a  far  more  philanthropical  point  of 
view  than  most  others.  He  stated  in  a  letter,  which  forms  part 
of  the  correspondence :  "  I  must  admit  that,  when  a  British  sub 
ject,  Irish,  English,  or  Welsh,  becomes  an  American,  and  claims 
no  longer  the  protection  of  his  own  country,  his  own  country  has 


Public  Dinner  at  Buffalo  239 

no  right  to  call  him  a  subject,  and  to  put  him  in  a  position  to 
make  war  on  his  adopted  country ;  and  it  appears  to  me,"  he 
added,  "  that  we  may  count  it  among  the  dispensations  of  Prov 
idence,  that  these  new  facilities  of  transporting  men  from  country 
to  country,  by  the  power  of  steam,  and  quickly,  are  designed 
by  a  high  wisdom."  He  said,  "  We  have  more  people  than  land, 
and  you  have  more  land  than  people.  Take  as  many  from  us 
as  you  please,  or  as  please  to  come.  That  seems  to  be  the 
order  of  things ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  stopped."  I  told  him  that 
was  my  opinion  too.  Gentlemen,  this  immigration  is  not  to  be 
stopped ;  we  must  keep  things  as  they  are ;  we  must  inculcate 
upon  all  who  come  here  the  necessity  of  becoming  Americans ; 
we  must  teach  them;  we  must  endeavor  to  instil  American 
sentiments  into  their  bosoms. 

Gentlemen,  if  it  were  not  so  late,  I  would  say  a  few  words 
more  about  the  public  lands  of  this  country,  and  the  best 
disposition  to  be  made  of  them.  What  shall  we  do  with 
them?  They  spread  over  a  vast  extent  of  territory,  rich  in 
its  natural  fertility;  but  can  any  one  tell  me  what  is  the 
value  of  land  unconnected  with  cultivation  and  social  life  ?  A 
thousand  acres  would  not,  in  such  a  case,  be  worth  a  dol 
lar.  What  is  land  worth  in  the  remote  interior?  Land  is  a 
theatre  for  the  application  and  exhibition  of  human  labor ;  and 
when  human  labor  goes  upon  it,  and  is  exerted,  then  it  creates 
its  value.  Without  this,  it  is  not  worth  a  rush,  from  "  Dan  to 
Beersheba."  I  do  not  wish  to  say,  that  on  every  acre  of  land 
there  must  be  a  settlement;  but  there  must  be  human  labor 
somewhere  near  it ;  there  must  be  something  besides  the  mathe 
matical  division  apportioning  it  into  sections,  half-sections,  and 
quarter-sections,  before  land  is  of  any  value  whatever. 

But,  Gentlemen,  we  have  had  a  series  of  wonderful  events  in 
our  commercial  relations.  The  commerce  of  the  country  is  fill 
ing  the  coffers  of  the  country.  It  has  supplied,  and  now  sup 
plies,  every  want  of  the  government.  What,  then,  shall  we  do 
with  the  public  lands?  During  the  last  Congress,  acts  were 
passed,  distributing  large  quantities  of  them,  varying  from  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  or  more,  down  to  forty  acres,  to  those 
who  had  rendered  military  service  to  the  country.  This  was  all 
very  well ;  nobody  goes  further  than  I  do,  in  desiring  to  make 
happy  those  who  have  borne  arms  in  their  country's  cause,  as 


240       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

well  as  their  widows  and  orphans ;  but  this  does  not  appear  to 
me  to  answer  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  What  is  to  be  done  ? 
What  is  to  become  of  those  who  come  to  this  country  and  have 
nothing  to  buy  land  with  ?  That  is  the  question,  Gentlemen. 
The  last  measure  proposed  by  me  while  in  the  last  Congress  was 
the  short  and  simple  proposition,  that  every  man  of  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  who  would  go  on  any  uncultivated  land  in  the 
country,  and  take  up  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  cultivate 
it  for  five  years,  should  thereby  make  it  his  own,  to  the  extinc 
tion  of  the  public  right ;  and  if  his  widow  and  children  did  the 
same,  they  should  have  it.  One  of  the  great  evils  of  this  mili 
tary  bounty  business  is,  that,  when  warrants  are  issued,  manage 
it  as  you  will,  they  fall  into  the  hands  of  speculators,  and  do 
not  accrue  to  those  whom  it  was  designed  to  benefit.  Let  me 
relate  an  anecdote  on  this  subject.  I  brought  forward  this 
matter  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  soon  afterwards 
I  received  a  letter  from  Europe  stating  that  it  was  wrong  and 
unjust,  because  it  would  interfere  with  the  rights  of  those  who 
had  purchased  warrants  to  settle  on  the  public  lands,  as  a  mat 
ter  of  speculation.  I  wrote  back  that  it  was  just  the  thing  I 
wished.  I  was  glad  it  was  so,  and  I  had  desired  it  should  be 
so.  My  proposition  was,  that  these  lands  should  not  be  alien 
ated;  that  they  should  be  free  of  claims  for  debt;  that  they 
should  not  be  transferable ;  and  if  a  man  left  his  land  before  five 
years,  that  he  should  lose  it.  My  object  was,  simply,  as  far  as  the 
object  could  be  accomplished  by  such  an  arrangement,  to  benefit 
those  in  the  Northern  States  who  were  landless,  and  the  thou 
sands  in  the  Southern  States  who  were  willing  to  toil  if  they 
had  any  thing  of  then-  own  to  toil  upon.  It  was  also  to  benefit 
the  immigrant,  by  giving  him  a  home ;  to  let  him  feel  that  he  had 
a  homestead ;  that  he  trod  upon  his  own  soil ;  that  he  was  a 
citizen,  a  freeholder.  On  his  own  good  behaviour  he  must  rely 
to  make  up  all  else  to  which  he  would  aspire.  I  may  have  been 
wrong  in  my  opinions,  but  they  are  my  opinions  still ;  and  if  ever 
an  opportunity  is  given  me,  I  shall  endeavor  to  carry  them  out. 

Well,  Gentlemen,  I  revert  once  more  to  your  great  State.  I 
see  all  her  works,  ah1  her  gigantic  improvements,  the  respectabil 
ity  of  her  government.  I  hear  of  her  greatness  over  the  whole 
world.  Your  merchants  have  a  character  everywhere,  which 
realizes  my  youthful  idea  of  the  character  of  a  British  merchant 


Public  Dinner  at  Buffalo  241 

A  friend  of  mine,  in  the  days  of  the  French  Republic,  had  so 
much  confidence  in  the  men  who  stood  at  the  head  of  affairs, 
that  he  invested  largely  in  assignats.  But  after  a  while  he  found 
them  to  be  worthless.  His  creditors  would  not  touch  them ;  and 
there  they  were,  dead  upon  his  hands.  One  day,  after  using 
some  very  extravagant  language,  he  concluded  by  saying,  "  that 
if  he  were  travelling  in  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  and  his  camel 
should  kick  up  a  British  bill  of  exchange  out  of  the  sands,  it 
would  be  worth  ten  per  cent,  premium,  while  these  French  gov 
ernment  assignats  were  not  worth  a  farthing."  So  your  com 
mercial  character  stands.  Your  vessels  traverse  every  sea,  and 
fill  all  the  rivers.  You  invite  Commerce  to  you  from  every  re 
gion,  and  she  comes.  You  call  her  from  the  vasty  deep,  and  she 
responds  to  your  call. 

But,  Gentlemen,  I  will  conclude  by  offering  a  sentiment,  for  I 
am  sure  you  are  anxious  to  hear  from  others,  from  whom  I  have 
too  long  detained  you.  Permit  me  to  give 

The  State  of  New  York:  not  the  envy,  but  the  admiration, 
of  her  sister  States. 


VOL.  iv.  — 16 


Reception  at  Buffalo2 


FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  BUFFALO,  —  I  am  very 
glad  to  see  you ;  I  meet  you  with  pleasure.  It  is  not  the  first 
time  that  I  have  been  in  Buffalo,  and  I  have  always  come  to  it 
with  gratification.  It  is  at  a  great  distance  from  my  own  home. 
I  am  thankful  that  circumstances  have  enabled  me  to  be  here 
again,  and  I  regret  that  untoward  events  deprived  me  of  the 
pleasure  of  being  with  you  when  your  distinguished  fellow-citi 
zen,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  visited  you,  and  received 
from  you,  as  he  deserved,  not  only  a  respectful,  but  a  cordial  and 
enthusiastic  welcome.  The  President  of  the  United  States  has 
been  a  resident  among  you  for  more  than  half  his  life.  He  has 
represented  you  in  the  State  and  national  councils.  You  know 
him  and  all  his  relations,  both  public  and  private,  and  it  would 
be  bad  taste  in  me  to  say  any  thing  of  him,  except  that  I  wish 
to  say,  with  emphasis,  that,  since  my  connection  with  him  in  the 
administration  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  I  have 
fully  concurred  with  him  in  all  his  great  and  leading  measures. 
This  might  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  I  have  been  one  of  his 
ordinary  advisers.  But  I  do  not  wish  to  let  it  rest  on  that  pre 
sumption  ;  I  wish  to  declare  that  the  principles  of  the  President, 
as  set  forth  in  his  annual  message,  his  letters,  and  all  documents 
and  opinions  which  have  proceeded  from  him,  or  been  issued  by 
his  authority,  in  regard  to  the  great  question  of  the  times,  —  all 
these  principles  are  my  principles ;  and  if  he  is  wrong  in  them,  I 
am,  and  always  shall  be. 

Gentlemen,  it  has  been  suggested  to  me  that  it  would  be 
agreeable  to  the  citizens  of  Buffalo,  and  their  neighbors  in  the 

*  A  Speech  delivered  before  a  large  Assembly  of  the  Citizens  of  Buffalo  and 
the  County  of  Erie,  at  a  Public  Reception  on  the  22d  of  May,  1851. 


Reception  at  Buffalo  243 

county  of  Erie,  that  I  should  state  to  you  my  opinions,  whatever 
may  be  their  value,  on  the  present  condition  of  the  country,  its 
prospects,  its  hopes,  and  its  dangers ;  and,  fellow-citizens,  I  in 
tend  to  do  that,  this  day,  and  this  hour,  as  far  as  my  strength 
will  permit. 

Gentlemen,  believe  me,  I  know  where  I  am.  I  know  to  whom 
I  am  speaking.  I  know  for  whom  I  am  speaking.  I  know 
that  I  am  here  in  this  singularly  prosperous  and  powerful  section 
of  the  United  States,  Western  New  York,  and  I  know  the  char 
acter  of  the  men  who  inhabit  Western  New  York.  I  know  they 
are  sons  of  liberty,  one  and  all ;  that  they  sucked  in  liberty  with 
their  mothers'  milk ;  inherited  it  with  their  blood ;  that  it  is  the 
subject  of  their  daily  contemplation  and  watchful  thought.  They 
are  men  of  unusual  equality  of  condition,  for  a  million  and  a 
half  of  people.  There  are  thousands  of  men  around  us,  and  here 
before  us,  who  till  their  own  soil  with  their  own  hands ;  and 
others  who  earn  their  own  livelihood  by  their  own  labor  in  the 
workshops  and  other  places  of  industry ;  and  they  are  independ 
ent,  in  principle  and  in  condition,  having  neither  slaves  nor  mas 
ters,  and  not  intending  to  have  either.  These  are  the  men  who 
constitute,  to  a  great  extent,  the  people  of  Western  New  York. 
But  the  school-house,  I  know,  is  among  them.  Education  is 
among  them.  They  read,  and  write,  and  think.  Here,  too,  are 
women,  educated,  refined,  and  intelligent ;  and  here  are  men 
who  know  the  history  of  their  country,  and  the  laws  of  their 
country,  and  the  institutions  of  their  country ;  and  men,  lovers 
of  liberty  always,  and  yet  lovers  of  liberty  under  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  country,  and  who  mean  to  maintain  that  Constitu 
tion  with  all  their  strength.  I  hope  these  observations  will  sat 
isfy  you  that  I  know  where  I  am,  under  what  responsibility  I 
speak,  and  before  whom  I  appear ;  and  I  have  no  desire  that 
any  word  I  shall  say  this  day  shall  be  withholden  from  you  or 
your  children,  or  your  neighbors,  or  the  whole  world ;  for  I  speak 
before  you  and  before  my  country,  and,  if  it  be  not  too  solemn 
to  say  so,  before  the  great  Author  of  all  things. 

Gentlemen,  there  is  but  one  question  in  this  country  now ;  or, 
if  there  be  others,  they  are  but  secondary,  or  so  subordinate 
that  they  are  all  absorbed  in  that  great  and  leading  question ; 
and  that  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  this :  Can  we  preserve  the 
union  of  the  States,  not  by  coercion,  not  by  military  power,  not 


244       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

by  angry  controversies ;  but  can  we  of  this  generation,  you  and  I, 
your  friends  and  my  friends,  —  can  we  so  preserve  the  union  of 
these  States,  by  such  administration  of  the  powers  of  the  Con 
stitution  as  shall  give  content  and  satisfaction  to  all  who  live 
under  it,  and  draw  us  together,  not  by  military  power,  but  by 
the  silken  cords  of  mutual,  fraternal,  patriotic  affection  ?  That 
is  the  question,  and  no  other.  Gentlemen,  I  believe  in  party 
distinctions.  I  am  a  party  man.  There  are  questions  belong 
ing  to  party  in  which  I  take  an  interest,  and  there  are  opinions 
entertained  by  other  parties  which  I  repudiate ;  but  what  of  all 
that  ?  If  a  house  be  divided  against  itself,  it  will  fall,  and  crush 
every  body  in  it.  We  must  see  that  we  maintain  the  govern 
ment  which  is  over  us.  We  must  see  that  we  uphold  the  Con 
stitution,  and  we  must  do  so  without  regard  to  party. 

Now  how  did  this  question  arise  ?  The  question  is  for  ever 
misstated.  I  dare  say,  if  you  know  much  of  me.  or  of  my  course 
of  public  conduct,  for  the  last  fourteen  months,  you  have  heard 
of  my  attending  Union  meetings,  and  of  my  fervent  admoni 
tions  at  Union  meetings.  Well,  what  was  the  object  of  those 
meetings  ?  What  was  their  purpose  ?  The  object  and  purpose 
have  been  designedly  or  thoughtlessly  misrepresented.  I  had 
an  invitation,  some  time  since,  to  attend  a  Union  meeting  in  the 
county  of  Westchester ;  I  could  not  go,  but  wrote  a  letter. 
Well,  some  wise  man  of  the  East  said  he  did  not  think  it  was 
very  necessary  to  hold  Union  meetings  in  Westchester.  He  did 
not  think  there  were  many  disunionists  about  Tarrytown !  And 
so  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  there  is  a  total  misapprehension 
of  the  purpose  and  object  of  these  Union  meetings.  Every  one 
knows,  that  there  is  not  a  county,  or  a  city,  or  a  hamlet  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  that  is  ready  to  go  out  of  the  Union,  but 
only  some  small  bodies  of  fanatics.  There  is  no  man  so  insane 
in  the  State,  not  fit  for  a  lunatic  asylum,  as  to  wish  it.  But 
that  is  not  the  point.  We  all  know  that  every  man  and  every 
neighborhood,  and  all  corporations,  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
except  those  I  have  mentioned,  are  attached  to  the  Union,  and 
have  no  idea  of  withdrawing  from  it.  But  that  is  not,  I  repeat, 
the  point.  The  question,  fellow-citizens,  (and  I  put  it  to  you  now 
as  the  real  question,)  the  question  is,  Whether  you  and  the  rest 
of  the  people  of  the  great  State  of  New  York,  and  of  all  the 
States,  will  so  adhere  to  the  Constitution,  will  so  enact  and  main- 


Reception  at  Buffalo  245 

tain  laws  to  preserve  that  instrument,  that  you  will  not  only  re 
main  in  the  Union  yourselves,  but  permit  your  brethren  to  remain 
in  it,  and  help  to  perpetuate  it  ?  That  is  the  question.  Will  you 
concur  in  measures  necessary  to  maintain  the  Union,  or  will  you 
oppose  such  measures  ?  That  is  the  whole  point  of  the  case. 

There  are  thirty  or  forty  members  of  Congress  from  New 
York;  you  have  your  proportion  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
We  have  many  members  of  Congress  from  New  England. 
Will  they  maintain  the  laws  that  are  passed  for  the  administra 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  and  respect  the  rights  of  the  South,  so 
that  the  Union  may  be  held  together;  and  not  only  so  that 
we  may  not  go  out  of  it  ourselves,  which  we  are  not  inclined 
to  do,  but  so  that,  by  maintaining  the  rights  of  others,  they 
may  also  remain  in  the  Union  ?  Now,  Gentlemen,  permit  me 
to  say,  that  I  speak  of  no  concessions.  If  the  South  wish  any 
concession  from  me,  they  will  not  get  it ;  not  a  hair's  breadth 
of  it.  If  they  come  to  my  house  for  it,  they  will  not  find  it, 
and  the  door  will  be  shut ;  I  concede  nothing.  But  I  say  that  I 
will  maintain  for  them,  as  I  will  maintain  for  you,  to  the  utmost 
of  my  power,  and  in  the  face  of  all  danger,  their  rights  under 
the  Constitution,  and  your  rights  under  the  Constitution.  And 
I  shall  never  be  found  to  falter  in  one  or  the  other.  It  is  obvious 
to  every  one,  and  we  all  know  it,  that  the  origin  of  the  great 
disturbance  which  agitates  the  country  is  the  existence  of  slav 
ery  in  some  of  the  States;  but  we  must  meet  the  subject;  we 
must  consider  it ;  we  must  deal  with  it  earnestly,  honestly,  and 
justly.  From  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Johns  to  the  confines  of 
Florida,  there  existed,  in  1775,  thirteen  colonies  of  English 
origin,  planted  at  different  times,  and  coming  from  different 
parts  of  England,  bringing  with  them  various  habits,  and  estab 
lishing,  each  for  itself,  institutions  entirely  different  from  the 
institutions  which  they  left,  and  in  many  cases  from  each  other. 
But  they  were  all  of  English  origin.  The  English  language 
was  theirs,  Shakspeare  and  Milton  were  theirs,  the  common 
law  of  England  was  theirs,  and  the  Christian  religion  was 
theirs ;  and  these  things  held  them  together  by  the  force  of  a 
common  character.  The  aggressions  of  the  parent  state  com 
pelled  them  to  assert  their  independence.  They  declared  inde 
pendence,  and  that  immortal  act,  pronounced  on  the  4th  of  July. 
1776,  made  them  independent. 


246      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

That  was  an  act  of  union  by  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled.  But  this  act  of  itself  did  nothing  to  establish  over 
them  a  general  government.  They  had  a  Congress.  They  had 
Articles  of  Confederation  to  prosecute  the  war.  But  thus  far 
they  were  still,  essentially,  separate  and  independent  each  of 
the  other.  They  had  entered  into  a  simple  confederacy,  and 
nothing  more.  No  State  was  bound  by  what  it  did  not  itself 
agree  to,  or  what  was  done  according  to  the  provisions  of  the 
confederation.  That  was  the  state  of  things,  gentlemen,  at  that 
time.  The  war  went  on ;  victory  crowned  the  American  arms ; 
our  independence  was  acknowledged.  The  States  were  then 
united  together  under  a  confederacy  of  very  limited  powers.  It 
could  levy  no  taxes.  It  could  not  enforce  its  own  decrees.  It 
was  a  confederacy,  instead  of  a  united  government.  Experi 
ence  showed  that  this  was  insufficient  and  inefficient.  Accord 
ingly,  beginning  as  far  back  almost  as  the  close  of  the  war, 
measures  were  taken  for  the  formation  of  a  united  government, 
a  government  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  a  government  that 
could  pass  laws  binding  on  the  individual  citizens  of  all  the 
States,  and  which  could  enforce  those  laws  by  its  executive 
powers,  having  them  interpreted  by  a  judicial  power  belonging 
to  the  government  itself,  and  yet  a  government  strictly  limited 
in  its  nature.  Well,  Gentlemen,  this  led  to  the  formation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  that  instrument  was 
framed  on  the  idea  of  a  limited  government.  It  proposed  to 
leave,  and  did  leave,  the  different  domestic  institutions  of  the 
several  States  to  themselves.  It  did  not  propose  consolidation. 
It  did  not  propose  that  the  laws  of  Virginia  should  be  the  laws 
of  New  York,  or  that  the  laws  of  New  York  should  be  the  laws 
of  Massachusetts.  It  proposed  only  that,  for  certain  purposes 
and  to  a  certain  extent,  there  should  be  a  united  government, 
and  that  that  government  should  have  the  power  of  executing 
its  own  laws.  All  the  rest  was  left  to  the  several  States. 

We  now  come,  Gentlemen,  to  the  very  point  of  the  case.  At 
that  time  slavery  existed  in  the  Southern  States,  entailed  upon 
them  in  the  time  of  the  supremacy  of  British  laws  over  us. 
There  it  was.  It  was  obnoxious  to  the  Middle  and  Eastern 
States,  and  honestly  and  seriously  disliked,  as  the  records  of  the 
country  will  show,  by  the  Southern  States  themselves.  Now, 
how  was  it  to  be  dealt  with  ?  Were  the  Northern  and  Middle 


Reception  at  Buffalo  247 

States  to  exclude  from  the  government  those  States  of  the 
South  which  had  produced  a  Washington,  a  Laurens,  and  other 
distinguished  patriots,  who  had  so  truly  served,  and  so  greatly 
honored,  the  whole  country  ?  Were  they  to  be  excluded  from 
the  new  government  because  they  tolerated  the  institution  of 
slavery  ?  Your  fathers  and  my  fathers  did  not  think  so.  They 
did  not  see  that  it  would  be  of  the  least  advantage  to  the  slaves 
of  the  Southern  States,  to  cut  off  the  South  from  all  connection 
with  the  North.  Their  views  of  humanity  led  to  no  such 
result;  and  of  course,  when  the  Constitution  was  framed  and 
established,  and  adopted  by  you,  here  in  New  York,  and  by 
New  England,  it  contained  an  express  provision  of  security  to 
the  persons  who  lived  in  the  Southern  States,  in  regard  to  fugi 
tives  who  owed  them  service ;  that  is  to  say,  it  was  stipulated 
that  the  fugitive  from  service  or  labor  should  be  restored  to  his 
master  or  owner  if  he  escaped  into  a  free  State.  Well,  that  had 
been  the  history  of  the  country  from  its  first  settlement.  It  was 
a  matter  of  common  practice  to  return  fugitives  before  the  Con 
stitution  was  formed.  Fugitive  slaves  from  Virginia  to  Massa 
chusetts  were  restored  by  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  At  that 
day  there  was  a  great  system  of  apprenticeship  at  the  North- 
and  many  apprentices  at  the  North,  taking  advantage  of  cir 
cumstances,  and  of  vessels  sailing  to  the  South,  thereby  escaped ; 
and  they  were  restored  on  proper  claim  and  proof.  That  led  to 
a  clear,  express,  and  well-defined  provision  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  country  on  the  subject.  Now  I  am  aware  that  all  these 
things  are  well  known;  that  they  have  been  stated  a  thousand 
times  ;  but  in  these  days  of  perpetual  discontent  and  misrepre 
sentation,  to  state  things  a  thousand  times  is  not  enough ;  for 
there  are  persons  whose  consciences,  it  would  seem,  lead  them 
to  consider  it  their  duty  to  deny,  misrepresent,  falsify,  and  cover 
up  truths. 

Now  these  are  words  of  the  Constitution,  fellow-citizens,  which 
I  have  taken  the  pains  to  transcribe  therefrom,  so  that  he  who 
runs  may  read :  — 

"  No  PERSON  HELD  TO  SERVICE  OR  LABOR  IN  ONE  STATE,  UNDER 
THE  LAWS  THEREOF,  ESCAPING  INTO  ANOTHER,  SHALL,  IN  CONSE 
QUENCE  OF  ANY  LAW  OR  REGULATION  THEREIN,  BE  DISCHARGED 
FROM  SUCH  SERVICE  OR  LABOR,  BUT  SHALL  BE  DELIVERED  UP  ON 
CLAIM  OF  THE  PARTY  TO  WHOM  SUCH  SERVICE  OR  LABOR  MAY  BE 
DUE." 


248       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Is  there  any  mistake  about  that  ?  Is  there  any  forty-shilling 
attorney  here  to  make  a  question  of  it  ?  No.  I  will  not  dis 
grace  my  profession  by  supposing  such  a  thing.  There  is  not, 
in  or  out  of  an  attorney's  office  in  the  county  of  Erie,  or  else 
where,  one  who  could  raise  a  doubt,  or  a  particle  of  a  doubt, 
about  the  meaning  of  this  provision  of  the  Constitution.  He 
may  act  as  witnesses  do,  sometimes,  on  the  stand.  He  may 
wriggle,  and  twist,  and  say  he  cannot  tell,  or  cannot  remember. 
I  have  seen  many  such  efforts  in  my  time,  on  the  part  of 
witnesses,  to  falsify  and  deny  the  truth.  But  there  is  no  man 
who  can  read  these  words  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  say  they  are  not  clear  and  imperative.  "  No  per 
son,"  the  Constitution  says,  "  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one 
State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in 
consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from 
such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due."  Why,  you 
may  be  told  by  forty  conventions  in  Massachusetts,  in  Ohio, 
in  New  York,  or  elsewhere,  that,  if  a  colored  man  comes  here, 
he  comes  as  a  freeman  ;  that  is  a  non  sequitur.  It  is  not  so.  If 
he  comes  as  a  fugitive  from  labor,  the  Constitution  says  he  is 
not  a  freeman,  and  that  he  shall  be  delivered  up  to  those  who 
are  entitled  to  his  service. 

Gentlemen,  that  is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Do  we,  or  do  we  not,  mean  to  conform  to  it,  and  to  execute  that 
part  of  the  Constitution  as  well  as  the  rest  of  it  ?  I  believe  there 
are  before  me  here  members  of  Congress.  I  suppose  there  may 
be  here  members  of  the  State  legislature,  or  executive  officers 
under  the  State  government.  I  suppose  there  may  be  judicial 
magistrates  of  New  York,  executive  officers,  assessors,  super 
visors,  justices  of  the  peace,  and  constables  before  me.  Allow 
me  to  say,  Gentlemen,  that  there  is  not,  that  there  cannot  be, 
any  one  of  these  officers  in  this  assemblage,  or  elsewhere, 
who  has  not,  according  to  the  form  of  the  usual  obligation, 
bound  himself  by  a  solemn  oath  to  support  the  Constitution. 
They  have  taken  their  oaths  on  the  Holy  Evangelists  of  Al 
mighty  God,  or  by  uplifted  hand,  as  the  case  may  be,  or  by 
a  solemn  affirmation,  as  is  the  practice  in  some  cases ;  but 
among  all  of  them,  there  is  not  a  man  who  holds,  nor  is  there 
any  man  who  can  hold,  any  office  in  the  gift  of  the  United 


Reception  at  Buffalo  249 

States,  01  of  this  State,  or  of  any  other  State,  who  does  not 
bind  himself,  by  the  solemn  obligation  of  an  oath,  to  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Well,  is  he  to  tamper 
with  that  ?  Is  he  to  palter  ?  Gentlemen,  our  political  duties 
are  as  much  matters  of  conscience  as  any  other  duties  ;  our 
sacred  domestic  ties,  our  most  endearing  social  relations,  are 
no  more  the  subjects  for  conscientious  consideration  and  con 
scientious  discharge,  than  the  duties  we  enter  upon  under  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  bonds  of  political 
brotherhood,  which  hold  us  together  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  rest 
upon  the  same  principles  of  obligation  as  those  of  domestic 
and  social  life. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  that  is  the  plain  story  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  question  of  slavery.  I  contend, 
and  have  always  contended,  that,  after  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution,  any  measure  of  the  government  calculated  to  bring 
more  slave  territory  into  the  United  States  was  beyond  the 
power  of  the  Constitution,  and  against  its  provisions.  That  is 
my  opinion,  and  it  always  has  been  my  opinion.  It  was  incon 
sistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  or  thought 
to  be  so,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  time,  to  attach  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States.  A  treaty  with  France  was  made  for  that  purpose. 
Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  at  that  moment  was,  that  an  altera 
tion  of  the  Constitution  was  necessary  to  enable  it  to  be  done. 
In  consequence  of  considerations  to  which  I  need  not  now  refer, 
that  opinion  was  abandoned,  and  Louisiana  was  admitted  by 
law,  without  any  provision  in,  or  alteration  of,  the  Constitution. 
At  that  time  I  was  too  young  to  hold  any  office,  or  take  any 
share  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  country.  Louisiana  was  ad 
mitted  as  a  slave  State,  and  became  entitled  to  her  representa 
tion  in  Congress  on  the  principle  of  a  mixed  basis.  Florida  was 
afterwards  admitted.  Then,  too,  I  was  out  of  Congress.  I  had 
formerly  been  a  member,  but  had  ceased  to  be  so.  I  had  noth 
ing  to  do  with  the  Florida  treaty,  or  the  admission  of  Florida. 
My  opinion  remains  unchanged,  that  it  was  not  within  the 
original  scope  or  design  of  the  Constitution  to  admit  new  States 
out  of  foreign  territory ;  and,  for  one,  whatever  may  be  said  at 
the  Syracuse  convention,  or  at  any  other  assemblage  of  insane 
persons,  I  never  would  consent,  and  never  have  consented,  that 
there  should  be  one  foot  of  slave  territory  beyond  what  the  old 


250      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

thirteen  States  had  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Union. 
Never,  never !  The  man  cannot  show  his  face  to  me,  and  say 
he  can  prove  that  I  ever  departed  from  that  doctrine.  He  would 
sneak  away,  and  slink  away,  or  hire  a  mercenary  press  to  cry 
out,  What  an  apostate  from  liberty  Daniel  Webster  has  become ! 
But  he  knows  himself  to  be  a  hypocrite  and  a  falsifier. 

But,  Gentlemen,  I  was  in  public  life  when  the  proposition  to 
annex  Texas  to  the  United  States  was  brought  forward.  You 
know  that  the  revolution  in  Texas,  which  separated  that  country 
from  Mexico,  occurred  in  the  year  1835  or  1836.  I  saw  then, 
and  I  do  not  know  that  it  required  any  particular  foresight,  that 
it  would  be  the  very  next  thing  to  bring  Texas,  which  was  de 
signed  to  be  a  slave-holding  State,  into  this  Union.  I  did  not 
wait.  I  sought  an  occasion  to  proclaim  my  utter  aversion  to 
any  such  measure,  and  I  determined  to  resist  it  with  all  my 
strength  to  the  last.  On  this  subject,  Gentlemen,  you  will  bear 
with  me,  if  I  now  repeat,  in  the  presence  of  this  assembly,  what 
I  have  before  spoken  elsewhere.  I  was  in  this  city  in  the  year 
1837,  and,  some  time  before  I  left  New  York  on  that  excursion 
from  which  I  returned  to  this  place,  my  friends  in  New  York 
were  kind  enough  to  offer  me  a  public  dinner  as  a  testimony  of 
their  regard.  I  went  out  of  my  way,  in  a  speech  delivered  in 
Niblo's  Garden,  on  that  occasion,  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
that  I  anticipated  the  attempt  to  annex  Texas  as  a  slave  ter 
ritory,  and  said  it  should  be  opposed  by  me  to  the  last  ex 
tremity.  Well,  there  was  the  press  all  around  me,  —  the  Whig 
press  and  the  Democratic  press.  Some  spoke  in  terms  commen 
datory  enough  of  my  speech,  but  all  agreed  that  I  took  pains 
to  step  out  of  my  way  to  denounce  in  advance  the  annexation 
of  Texas  as  slave  territory  to  the  United  States.  I  said  on  that 
occasion :  — 

"  Gentlemen,  we  all  see  that,  by  whomsoever  possessed,  Texas  is 
likely  to  be  a  slave-holding  country  ;  and  I  frankly  avow  my  entire  unwill 
ingness  to  do  any  thing  that  shall  extend  the  slavery  of  the  African  race 
on  this  continent,  or  add  other  slave-holding  States  to  the  Union.  When 
I  say  that  I  regard  slavery  in  itself  as  a  great  moral,  social,  and  political 
evil,  I  only  use  language  which  has  been  adopted  by  distinguished  men, 
themselves  citizens  of  slave-holding  States.  I  shall  do  nothing,  therefore, 
to  favor  or  encourage  its  further  extension.  We  have  slavery  already 
amongst  us.  The  Constitution  found  it  in  the  Union ;  it  recognized  it, 


Reception  at  Buffalo  251 

and  gave  it  solemn  guaranties.  To  the  full  extent  of  these  guaranties  we 
are  all  bound,  in  honor,  in  justice,  and  by  the  Constitution.  All  the  stipu 
lations  contained  in  the  Constitution  in  favor  of  the  slave-holding  States 
which  are  already  in  the  Union  ought  to  be  fulfilled,  and,  so  far  as 
depends  on  me,  shall  be  fulfilled,  in  the  fulness  of  their  spirit  and  to 
the  exactness  of  their  letter.  Slavery,  as  it  exists  in  the  States,  is  be 
yond  the  reach  of  Congress.  It  is  a  concern  of  the  States  themselves ; 
they  have  never  submitted  it  to  Congress,  and  Congress  has  no  right 
ful  power  over  it.  I  shall  concur,  therefore,  in  no  act,  no  measure,  no 
menace,  no  indication  of  purpose,  which  shall  interfere  or  threaten  to 
interfere  with  the  exclusive  authority  of  the  several  States  over  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery  as  it  exists  within  their  respective  limits.  All  this 
appears  to  me  to  be  matter  of  plain  and  imperative  duty.  But  when 
we  come  to  speak  of  admitting  new  States,  the  subject  assumes  an 
entirely  different  aspect.  Our  rights  and  our  duties  are  then  both  differ 
ent.  The  free  States,  and  all  the  States,  are  then  at  liberty  to  accept 
or  to  reject.  When  it  is  proposed  to  bring  new  members  into  this  politi 
cal  partnership,  the  old  members  have  a  right  to  say  on  what  terms  such 
new  partners  are  to  come  in,  and  what  they  are  to  bring  along  with 
them.  In  my  opinion,  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  not  con 
sent  to  bring  into  the  Union  a  new,  vastly  extensive,  and  slave-holding 
country,  large  enough  for  half  a  dozen  or  a  dozen  States.  In  my 
opinion,  they  ought  not  to  consent  to  it." 

Gentlemen,  I  was  mistaken;  Congress  did  consent  to  the 
bringing  in  of  Texas.  They  did  consent,  and  I  was  a  false 
prophet.  Your  own  State  consented,  and  the  majority  of  the 
representatives  of  New  York  consented.  I  went  into  Congress 
before  the  final  consummation  of  the  deed,  and  there  I  fought, 
holding  up  both  my  hands,  and  urging,  with  a  voice  stronger 
than  it  now  is,  my  remonstrances  against  the  whole  of  it.  But 
you  would  have  it  so,  and  you  did  have  it  so.  Nay,  Gentlemen, 
I  will  tell  the  truth,  whether  it  shames  the  Devil  or  not.  Persons 
who  have  aspired  high  as  lovers  of  liberty,  as  eminent  lovers  of 
the  Wilmot  Proviso,  as  eminent  Free  Soil  men,  and  who  have 
mounted  over  our  heads,  and  trodden  us  down  as  if  we  were 
mere  slaves,  insisting  that  they  are  the  only  true  lovers  of  lib 
erty,  they  are  the  men,  the  very  men,  that  brought  Texas  into 
this  Union.  This  is  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  and  I  declare  it  before  you,  this  day.  Look  to 
the  journals.  Without  the  consent  of  New  York,  Texas  would 
not  have  come  into  the  Union,  either  under  trm  original  reso- 


252       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

lutions  or  afterwards.  But  New  York  voted  for  the  measure. 
The  two  Senators  from  New  York  voted  for  it,  and  decided  the 
question ;  and  you  may  thank  them  for  the  glory,  the  renown, 
and  the  happiness  of  having  five  or  six  slave  States  added  to  the 
Union.  Do  not  blame  me  for  it.  Let  them  answer  who  did 
the  deed,  and  who  are  now  proclaiming  themselves  the  cham 
pions  of  liberty,  crying  up  their  Free  Soil  creed,  and  using  it  for 
selfish  and  deceptive  purposes.  They  were  the  persons  who 
aided  in  bringing  in  Texas.  It  was  all  fairly  told  to  you,  both 
beforehand  and  afterwards.  You  heard  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
but  if  one  had  risen  from  the  dead,  such  was  your  devotion  to 
that  policy,  at  that  time,  you  would  not  have  listened  to  him  for 
a  moment.  I  do  not,  of  course,  speak  of  the  persons  now  here 
before  me,  but  of  the  general  political  tone  in  New  York,  and 
especially  of  those  who  are  now  Free  Soil  apostles.  Well,  all 
that  I  do  not  complain  of;  but  I  will  not  now,  or  hereafter,  be 
fore  the  country,  or  the  world,  consent  to  be  numbered  among 
those  who  introduced  new  slave  power  into  the  Union.  I  did 
all  in  my  power  to  prevent  it. 

Then,  again,  Gentlemen,  the  Mexican  war  broke  out.  Vast 
territory  was  acquired,  and  the  peace  was  made ;  and,  much  as 
I  disliked  the  war,  I  disliked  the  peace  more,  because  it  brought 
in  these  territories.  I  wished  for  peace  indeed,  but  I  desired  to 
strike  out  the  grant  of  territory  on  the  one  side,  and  the  pay 
ment  of  the  $  12,000,000  on  the  other.  That  territory  was 
unknown  to  me ;  I  could  not  tell  what  its  character  might  be. 
The  plan  came  from  the  South.  I  knew  that  certain  Southern 
gentlemen  wished  the  acquisition  of  California,  New  Mexico, 
and  Utah,  as  a  means  of  extending  slave  power  and  slave  pop 
ulation.  Foreseeing  a  sectional  controversy,  and,  as  I  conceived, 
seeing  how  much  it  would  distract  the  Union,  I  voted  against  the 
treaty  with  Mexico.  I  voted  against  the  acquisition.  I  wanted 
none  of  her  territory,  neither  California,  New  Mexico,  nor  Utah. 
They  were  rather  ultra- American,  as  I  thought.  They  were  far 
from  us,  and  I  saw  that  they  might  lead  to  a  political  con 
flict,  and  I  voted  against  them  all,  against  the  treaty  and 
against  the  peace,  rather  than  have  the  territories.  Seeing  that 
it  would  be  an  occasion  of  dispute,  that  by  the  controversy  the 
whole  Union  would  be  agitated,  Messrs.  Berrien,  Badger,  and 
other  respectable  and  distinguished  men  of  the  South,  voted 


Reception  at  Buffalo  253 

against  the  acquisition,  and  the  treaty  which  secured  it;  and  if 
the  men  of  the  North  had  voted  the  same  way,  we  should  have 
been  spared  all  the  difficulties  that  have  grown  out  of  it.  We 
should  have  had  peace  without  the  territories. 

Now  there  is  no  sort  of  doubt,  Gentlemen,  that  there  were 
some  persons  in  the  South  who  supposed  that  California,  if  it 
came  into  the  Union  at  all.  would  come  in  as  a  slave  State. 
You  know  the  extraordinary  events  which  immediately  occurred, 
and  the  impulse  given  to  emigration  by  the  discovery  of  gold. 
You  know  that  crowds  of  Northern  people  immediately  rushed 
to  California,  and  that  an  African  slave  could  no  more  live  there 
among  them,  than  he  could  live  on  the  top  of  Mount  Hecla. 
Of  necessity  it  became  a  free  State,  and  that,  no  doubt,  was  a 
source  of  much  disappointment  to  the  South.  And  then  there 
were  New  Mexico  and  Utah ;  what  was  to  be  done  with  them  ? 
Why,  Gentlemen,  from  the  best  investigation  I  had  given  to  the 
subject,  and  the  reflection  I  had  devoted  to  it,  I  was  of  the  opin 
ion  that  the  mountains  of  New  Mexico  and  Utah  could  no  more 
sustain  American  slavery  than  the  snows  of  Canada.  I  saw  it 
was  impossible.  I  thought  so  then ;  it  is  quite  evident  now. 
Therefore,  when  it  was  proposed  in  Congress  to  apply  the  Wil- 
mot  Proviso  to  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  it  appeared  to  me  just 
as  absurd  as  to  apply  it  here  in  Western  New  York.  I  saw 
that  the  snow-capped  hills,  the  eternal  mountains,  and  the  cli 
mate  of  those  countries  would  never  support  slavery.  No  man 
could  carry  a  slave  there  with  any  expectation  of  profit.  It 
could  not  be  done ;  and  as  the  South  regarded  the  Proviso  as 
merely  a  source  of  irritation,  and  as  designed  by  some  to  irritate, 
I  thought  it  unwise  to  apply  it  to  New  Mexico  or  Utah.  I 
voted  accordingly,  and  who  doubts  now  the  correctness  of  that 
vote  ?  The  law  admitting  those  territories  passed  without  any 
proviso.  Is  there  a  slave,  or  will  there  ever  be  one,  in  either  of 
those  territories  ?  Why,  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  United  States 
so  stupid  as  not  to  see,  at  this  moment,  that  such  a  thing  was 
wholly  unnecessary,  and  that  it  was  only  calculated  to  irritate 
and  to  offend.  I  am  not  one  who  is  disposed  to  create  irrita 
tion,  or  give  offence  among  brethren,  or  to  break  up  fraternal 
friendship,  without  cause.  The  question  was  accordingly  left 
legally  open,  whether  slavery  should  or  should  not  go  to  New 
Mexico  or  Utah.  There  is  no  slavery  there,  it  is  utterly  imprac- 


254       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

ticable  that  it  should  be  introduced  into  such  a  region,  and 
utterly  ridiculous  to  suppose  that  it  could  exist  there.  No  one, 
who  does  not  mean  to  deceive,  will  now  pretend  it  can  exist 
there. 

Well,  Gentlemen,  we  have  a  race  of  agitators  all  over  the 
country ;  some  connected  with  the  press,  some,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  belonging  to  the  learned  professions.  They  agitate ;  their 
livelihood  consists  in  agitating ;  their  freehold,  their  copyhold, 
their  capital,  their  all  in  all,  depend  on  the  excitement  of  the 
public  mind.  The  events  now  briefly  alluded  to  were  going  on 
at  the  commencement  of  the  year  1850.  There  were  two  great 
questions  before  the  public.  There  was  the  question  of  the 
Texan  boundary,  and  of  a  government  for  Utah  and  New  Mex 
ico,  which  I  consider  as  one  question ;  and  there  was  the  ques 
tion  of  making  a  provision  for  the  restoration  of  fugitive  slaves. 
On  these  subjects,  I  have  something  to  say.  Texas,  as  you 
know,  established  her  independence  of  Mexico  by  her  revolution 
and  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  which  made  her  a  sovereign 
power.  I  have  already  stated  to  you  what  I  then  anticipated 
from  the  movement,  namely,  that  she  would  ask  to  come  into 
the  Union  as  a  slave  State.  We  admitted  her  in  1845,  and  we 
admitted  her  as  a  slave  State.  We  admitted  her  also  with  an 
undefined  boundary;  remember  that.  She  claimed  by  conquest 
the  whole  of  that  territory  commonly  called  New  Mexico,  east 
of  the  Rio  Grande.  She  claimed  also  those  limits  which  her 
constitution  had  declared  and  marked  out  as  the  proper  limits 
of  Texas.  This  was  her  claim,  and  when  she  was  admitted 
into  the  United  States,  the  United  States  did  not  define  her  ter 
ritory.  They  admitted  her  as  she  was  We  took  her  as  she 
defined  her  own  limits,  and  with  the  power  of  making  four  ad 
ditional  slave  States.  I  say  "we,"  but  I  do  not  mean  that 
I  was  one ;  I  mean  the  United  States  admitted  her. 

What,  then,  was  the  state  of  things  in  1850  ?  There  was  Tex 
as  claiming  all,  or  a  great  part,  of  that  which  the  United  States 
had  acquired  from  Mexico  as  New  Mexico.  She  claimed  that  it 
belonged  to  her  by  conquest  and  by  her  admission  into  the  United 
States,  and  she  was  ready  to  maintain  her  claim  by  force  of  arms. 
Nor  was  this  all.  A  man  must  be  ignorant  of  the  history  of  the 
country  who  does  not  know,  that,  at  the  commencement  of  1850, 
there  was  great  agitation  throughout  the  whole  South,  Who 


Reception  at  Buffalo  255 

does  not  know  that  six  or  seven  of  the  largest  States  of  the 
South  had  already  taken  measures  looking  toward  secession; 
were  preparing  for  disunion  in  some  way  ?  They  concurred  ap 
parently,  at  least  some  of  them,  with  Texas,  while  Texas  was 
prepared  or  preparing  to  enforce  her  rights  by  force  of  arms. 
Troops  were  enlisted  by  her,  and  many  thousand  persons  in  the 
South  disaffected  towards  the  Union,  or  desirous  of  breaking 
it  up,  were  ready  to  make  common  cause  with  Texas ;  to  join 
her  ranks,  and  see  what  they  could  make  in  a  war  to  establish 
the  right  of  Texas  to  New  Mexico.  The  public  mind  was  dis 
turbed.  A  considerable  part  of  the  South  was  disaffected  towards 
the  Union,  and  in  a  condition  to  adopt  any  course  that  should 
be  violent  and  destructive. 

What  then  was  to  be  done,  as  far  as  Texas  was  concerned  ? 
Allow  me  to  say,  Gentlemen,  there  are  two  sorts  of  foresight. 
There  is  a  military  foresight,  which  sees  what  will  be  the  result 
of  an  appeal  to  arms;  and  there  is  also  a  statesmanlike  fore 
sight,  which  looks  not  to  the  result  of  battles  and  carnage,  but 
to  the  results  of  political  disturbances,  the  violence  of  faction 
carried  into  military  operations,  and  the  horrors  attendant  on 
civil  war.  I  never  had  a  doubt,  that,  if  the  administration  of 
General  Taylor  had  gone  to  war,  and  had  sent  troops  into 
New  Mexico,  the  Texan  forces  would  have  been  subdued  in  a 
week.  The  power  on  one  side  was  far  superior  to  all  the  power 
on  the  other.  But  what  then  ?  What  if  Texan  troops,  assist 
ed  by  thousands  of  volunteers  from  the  disaffected  States,  had 
gone  to  New  Mexico,  and  had  been  defeated  and  turned  back  ? 
Would  that  have  settled  the  boundary  question  ?  Now,  Gentle 
men,  I  wish  I  had  ten  thousand  voices.  I  wish  I  could  draw 
around  me  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States,  and  I  wish  I 
could  make  them  all  hear  what  I  now  declare  on  my  conscience 
as  my  solemn  belief,  before  the  Power  who  sits  on  high,  and  who 
will  judge  you  and  me  hereafter,  that,  if  this  Texan  controversy 
had  not  been  settled  by  Congress  in  the  manner  it  was,  by 
the  so-called  adjustment  measures,  civil  war  would  have  ensued; 
blood,  American  blood,  would  have  been  shed ;  and  who  can 
tell  what  would  have  been  the  consequences  ?  Gentlemen,  in 
an  honorable  war,  if  a  foreign  foe  invade  us,  if  our  rights  are 
threatened,  if  it  be  necessary  to  defend  them  by  arms,  I  am  not 
afraid  of  blood.  And  if  I  am  too  old  myself,  I  hope  there  are 


256       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

those  connected  with  me  by  ties  of  relationship  who  are  young, 
and  willing  to  defend  their  country  to  the  last  drop  of  their  blood. 
But  I  cannot  express  the  horror  I  feel  at  the  shedding  of  blood 
in  a  controversy  between  one  of  these  States  and  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  because  I  see  in  it  a  total  and  entire 
disruption  of  all  those  ties  that  make  us  a  great  and  happy  peo 
ple.  Gentlemen,  this  was  the  great  question,  the  leading  ques 
tion,  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  1850. 

Then  there  was  the  other  matter,  and  that  was  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law.  Let  me  say  a  word  about  that.  Under  the  pro 
visions  of  the  Constitution,  during  Washington's  administra 
tion,  in  the  year  1793,  there  was  passed,  by  general  consent,  a 
law  for  the  restoration  of  fugitive  slaves.  Hardly  any  one  op 
posed  it  at  that  period  :  it  was  thought  to  be  necessary,  in  order 
to  carry  the  Constitution  into  effect;  the  great  men  of  New 
England  and  New  York  all  concurred  in  it.  It  passed,  and 
answered  all  the  purposes  expected  from  it,  till  about  the  year 
1841  or  1842,  when  the  States  interfered  to  make  enactments  in 
opposition  to  it.  The  act  of  Congress  said  that  State  magis 
trates  might  execute  the  duties  of  the  law.  Some  of  the  States 
passed  enactments  imposing  a  penalty  on  any  State  officers 
who  exercised  authority  under  the  law,  or  assisted  in  its  execu 
tion  ;  others  denied  the  use  of  their  jails  to  carry  the  law  into 
effect ;  and,  in  general,  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  1850, 
it  had  become  absolutely  indispensable  that  Congress  should 
pass  some  law  for  the  execution  of  this  provision  of  the  Con 
stitution,  or  else  give  up  that  provision  entirely.  That  was  the 
question.  I  was  in  Congress  when  it  was  brought  forward. 
I  was  for  a  proper  law.  I  had,  indeed,  proposed  a  different 
law ;  I  was  of  opinion  that  a  summary  trial  by  a  jury  might 
be  had,  which  would  satisfy  the  people  of  the  North,  and  pro 
duce  no  harm  to  those  who  claimed  the  service  of  fugitives; 
but  I  left  the  Senate,  and  went  to  another  station,  before  any 
law  was  passed.  The  law  of  1850  passed.  Now  I  undertake, 
as  a  lawyer,  and  on  my  professional  character,  to  say  to  you, 
and  to  all,  that  the  law  of  1850  is  decidedly  more  favorable 
to  the  fugitive  than  General  Washington's  law  of  1793 ;  and  I 
will  tell  you  why.  In  the  first  place,  the  present  law  places  the 
power  in  much  higher  hands ;  in  the  hands  of  independent 
judges  of  the  Supreme  and  Circuit  Courts,  and  District  Courts, 


Reception  at  Buffalo  257 

and  of  commissioners  who  are  appointed  to  office  for  their  legal 
learning.  Every  fugitive  is  brought  before  a  tribunal  of  high 
character,  of  eminent  ability,  of  respectable  station.  In  the  sec 
ond  place,  when  a  claimant  comes  from  Virginia  to  New  York, 
to  say  that  one  A  or  one  B  has  run  away,  or  is  a  fugitive  from 
service  or  labor,  he  brings  with  him  a  record  of  the  court  of  the 
county  from  which  he  comes,  and  that  record  must  be  sworn  to 
before  a  magistrate,  and  certified  by  the  county  clerk,  and  bear 
an  official  seal.  The  affidavit  must  state  that  A  or  B  had  de 
parted  under  such  and  such  circumstances,  and  had  gone  to 
another  State ;  and  that  record  under  seal  is,  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  entitled  to  full  credit  in  every  State.  Well, 
the  claimant  or  his  agent  comes  here,  and  he  presents  to  you  the 
seal  of  the  court  in  Virginia,  affixed  to  a  record  of  his  declara 
tion,  that  A  or  B  had  escaped  from  service.  He  must  then  prove 
that  the  fugitive  is  here.  He  brings  a  witness ;  he  is  asked  if 
this  is  the  man,  and  he  proves  it ;  or,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  the 
fact  would  be  admitted  by  the  fugitive  himself. 

Such  is  the  present  law;  and,  much  opposed  and  maligned 
as  it  is,  it  is  more  favorable  to  the  fugitive  slave  than  the  law 
enacted  during  Washington's  administration,  in  1793,  which  was 
sanctioned  by  the  North  as  well  as  by  the  South.  The  present 
violent  opposition  has  sprung  up  in  modern  times.  From  whom 
does  this  clamor  come  ?  Why,  look  at  the  proceedings  of  the 
antislavery  conventions  ;  look  at  their  resolutions.  Do  you  find 
among  those  persons  who  oppose  this  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
any  admission  whatever,  that  any  law  ought  to  be  passed  to 
carry  into  effect  the  solemn  stipulations  of  the  Constitution  ? 
Tell  me  any  such  case ;  tell  me  if  any  resolution  was  adopted 
by  the  convention  at  Syracuse  favorable  to  the  carrying  out 
of  the  Constitution.  Not  one !  The  fact  is,  Gentlemen,  they 
oppose  the  constitutional  provision ;  they  oppose  the  whole ! 
Not  a  man  of  them  admits  that  there  ought  to  be  any  law  on 
the  subject.  They  deny,  altogether,  that  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  ought  to  be  carried  into  effect.  Look  at  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  antislavery  conventions  in  Ohio,  Massachusetts, 
and  at  Syracuse,  in  the  State  of  New  York.  What  do  they 
say  ?  "  That,  so  help  them  God,  no  colored  man  shall  be  sent 
from  the  State  of  New  York  back  to  his  master  in  Virginia ! " 
Do  not  they  say  that?  And,  to  the  fulfilment  of  that  they 
VOL.  iv.  — 17 


258      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

"pledge  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor."  Their 
sacred  honor!  They  pledge  their  sacred  honor  to  violate  the 
Constitution  ;  they  pledge  their  sacred  honor  to  commit  treason 
against  the  laws  of  their  country ! 

I  have  already  stated,  Gentlemen,  what  your  observation  of 
these  things  must  have  taught  you.  I  will  only  recur  to  the 
subject  for  a  moment,  for  the  purpose  of  persuading  you,  as  pub 
lic  men  and  private  men,  as  good  men  and  patriotic  men,  that 
you  ought,  to  the  extent  of  your  ability  and  influence,  to  see  to 
it  that  such  laws  are  established  and  maintained  as  shall  keep 
you,  and  the  South,  and  the  West,  and  all  the  country,  togeth 
er,  on  the  terms  of  the  Constitution.  I  say,  that  what  is  de 
manded  of  us  is  to  fulfil  our  constitutional  duties,  and  to  do  for 
the  South  what  the  South  has  a  right  to  demand. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  been  some  time  before  the  public.  My 
character  is  known,  my  life  is  before  the  country.  I  profess  to 
love  liberty  as  much  as  any  man  living ;  but  I  profess  to  love 
American  liberty,  that  liberty  which  is  secured  to  the  country  by 
the  government  under  which  we  live ;  and  I  have  no  great  opin 
ion  of  that  other  and  higher  liberty  which  disregards  the  re 
straints  of  law  and  of  the  Constitution.  I  hold  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  to  be  the  bulwark,  the  only  bulwark,  of  our 
liberties  and  of  our  national  character.  I  do  not  mean  that 
you  should  become  slaves  under  the  Constitution.  That  is  not 
American  liberty.  That  is  not  the  liberty  of  the  Union  for  which 
our  fathers  fought,  that  liberty  which  has  given  us  a  right  to  be 
known  and  respected  all  over  the  world.  I  mean  only  to  say, 
that  I  am  for  constitutional  liberty.  It  is  enough  for  me  to  be 
as  free  as  the  Constitution  of  the  country  makes  me. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  let  me  say,  that,  as  much  as  I  respect  the 
character  of  the  people  of  Western  New  York,  as  much  as  I 
wish  to  retain  their  good  opinion,  if  I  should  ever  hereafter 
be  placed  in  any  situation  in  public  life,  let  me  tell  you  now 
that  you  must  not  expect  from  me  the  slightest  variation,  even 
of  a  hair's  breadth,  from  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
I  am  a  Northern  man.  I  was  born  at  the  North,  educated  at 
the  North,  have  lived  all  my  days  at  the  North.  I  know  five 
hundred  Northern  men  to  one  Southern  man.  My  sympathies, 
all  my  sympathies,  my  love  of  liberty  for  all  mankind,  of  every 
color,  are  the  same  as  yours.  My  affections  and  hopes  in  that 


Reception  at  Buffalo  259 

respect  are  exactly  like  yours.  I  wish  to  see  all  men  free,  all 
men  happy.  I  have  few  personal  associations  out  of  the  North 
ern  States.  My  people  are  your  people.  And  yet  I  am  told 
sometimes  that  I  am  not  a  friend  of  liberty,  because  I  am  not 
a  Free  Soil  man.  What  am  I  ?  What  was  I  ever  ?  What 
shall  I  be  hereafter,  if  I  could  sacrifice,  for  any  consideration, 
that  love  of  American  liberty  which  has  glowed  in  my  breast 
since  my  infancy,  and  which,  I  hope,  will  never  leave  me  till  I 
expire  ? 

Gentlemen,  I  regret  that  slavery  exists  in  the  Southern  States ; 
but  it  is  clear  and  certain  that  Congress  has  no  power  over  it. 
It  may  be,  however,  that,  in  the  dispensations  of  Providence, 
some  remedy  for  this  evil  may  occur,  or  may  be  hoped  for  here 
after.  But,  in  the  mean  time,  I  hold  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  you  need  never  expect  from  me,  under  any 
circumstances,  that  I  shall  falter  from  it ;  that  I  shall  be  other 
wise  than  frank  and  decisive.  I  would  not  part  with  my  char 
acter  as  a  man  of  firmness  and  decision,  and  honor  and  principle, 
for  all  that  the  world  possesses.  You  will  find  me  true  to  the 
North,  because  all  my  sympathies  are  with  the  North.  My 
affections,  my  children,  my  hopes,  my  every  thing,  are  with  the 
North.  But  when  I  stand  up  before  my  country,  as  one  ap 
pointed  to  administer  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  by  the 
blessing  of  God  I  will  be  just. 

Gentlemen,  I  expect  to  be  libelled  and  abused.  Yes,  libelled 
and  abused.  But  it  does  not  disturb  me.  I  have  not  lost  a 
night's  rest  for  a  great  many  years  from  any  such  cause.  I  have 
some  talent  for  sleeping.  And  why  should  I  not  expect  to  be 
libelled  ?  Is  not  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  libelled 
and  abused  ?  Do  not  some  people  call  it  a  covenant  with  hell  ? 
Is  not  Washington  libelled  and  abused?  Is  he  not  called  a 
bloodhound  on  the  track  of  the  African  negro  ?  Are  not  our 
fathers  libelled  and  abused  by  their  own  children  ?  And  ungrate 
ful  children  they  are.  How,  then,  shall  I  escape?  I  do  not 
expect  to  escape ;  but,  knowing  these  things,  I  impute  no  bad 
motive  to  any  men  of  character  and  fair  standing.  The  great 
settlement  measures  of  the  last  Congress  are  laws.  Many 
respectable  men,  representatives  from  your  own  State  and  from 
other  States,  did  not  concur  in  them.  I  do  not  impute  any  bad 
motive  to  them.  I  am  ready  to  believe  they  are  Americans  alL 


260       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 


They  may  not  have  thought  these  laws  necessary ;  or  they  m 
have  thought  that  they  would  be  enacted  without  their  conci 
rence.  Let  all  that  pass  away.  If  they  are  now  men  who  ^ 
stand  by  what  is  done,  and  stand  up  for  their  country,  and  s 
that,  as  these  laws  were  passed  by  a  majority  of  the  whole  cot 
try,  we  must  stand  by  them  and  live  by  them,  I  will  respe 
them  all  as  friends. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  allow  me  to  ask  of  you,  What  do  you  thi 
would  have  been  the  condition  of  the  country,  at  this  time, 
these  laws  had  not  been  passed  by  the  last  Congress?  if  t 
question  of  the  Texas  boundary  had  not  been  settled  ?  if  N( 
Mexico  and  Utah  had  been  left  as  desert-places,  and  no  govei 
ment  had  been  provided  for  them?  And  if  the  other  grc 
object  to  which  State  laws  had  opposed  so  many  obstacl 
the  restoration  of  fugitives,  had  not  been  provided  for,  I  ai 
what  would  have  been  the  state  of  this  country  now  ?  Y 
men  of  Erie  County,  you  men  of  New  York,  I  conjure  you 
go  home  to-night  and  meditate  on  this  subject.  What  woi 
have  been  the  state  of  this  country,  now,  at  this  moment,  if  the 
laws  had  not  been  passed  ?  I  have  given  my  opinion  that  i 
should  have  had  a  civil  war.  I  refer  it  to  you,  therefore,  i 
your  consideration ;  meditate  on  it ;  do  not  be  carried  away 
any  abstract  notions  or  metaphysical  ideas ;  think  practically  • 
the  great  question,  What  would  have  been  the  condition  of  t 
United  States  at  this  moment,  if  we  had  not  settled  these  a^ 
tating  questions  ?  I  repeat,  in  my  opinion,  there  would  ha 
been  a  civil  war. 

Gentlemen,  will  you  allow  me,  for  a  moment,  to  advert 
myself?  I  have  been  a  long  time  in  public  life;  of  course,  n 
many  years  remain  to  me.  At  the  commencement  of  1850 
looked  anxiously  at  the  condition  of  the  country,  and  I  thoug 
the  inevitable  consequence  of  leaving  the  existing  controversi 
unadjusted  would  be  civil  war.  I  saw  danger  in  leaving  Uti 
and  New  Mexico  without  any  government,  a  prey  to  the  pow 
of  Texas.  I  saw  the  condition  of  things  arising  from  the  int< 
ference  of  some  of  the  States  in  defeating  the  operation  of  t' 
Constitution  in  respect  to  the  restoration  of  fugitive  slaves, 
saw  these  things,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  to  encounter  wht 
ever  might  betide  me  in  the  attempt  to  avert  the  impendu 
catastrophe.  And  allow  me  to  add  something  which  is  n 


Reception  at  Buffalo  261 

entirely  unworthy  of  notice.     A  member  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  told  me  that  he  had  prepared  a  list  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  speeches  which  had  been  made  in  Congress  on  the 
slavery  question.     "  That  is  a  very  large  number,  my  friend,"  I 
said ;  «  but  how  is  that  ?  "     «  Why,"  said  he,  «  a  Northern  man 
gets  up  and  speaks  with  considerable  power  and  fluency  until 
the  Speaker's  hammer  knocks  him  down.      Then  gets  up  a 
Southern  man,  and  he  speaks  with  more  warmth.     He  is  nearer 
the  sun,  and  he  comes  out  with  the  greater  fervor  against  the 
North,     He  speaks  his  hour,  and  is  in  turn  knocked  down.    And 
so  it  has  gone  on,  until   I  have  got  one  hundred  and  forty 
speeches  on  my  list."     «  Well,"  said  I,  "  where  are  they,  and 
what  are  they  ?  "     "  If  the  speaker,"  said  he,  "  was  a  Northern 
man,  he  held  forth  against  slavery;  and  if  he  was  from  the 
South,  he  abused  the  North ;  and  all  these  speeches  were  sent 
by  the  members  to  their  own  localities,  where  they  served  only 
to  aggravate  the  local  irritation  already  existing.    No  man  reads 
both  sides.     The  other  side  of  the  argument  is  not  heard ;  and 
the  speeches  sent  from  Washington  in  such  prodigious  numbers, 
instead  of  tending  to  conciliation,  do  but  increase,  in  both  sec 
tions  of  the  Union,  an  excitement  already  of  the  most  dangerous 
character." 

Gentlemen,  in  this  state  of  things,  I  saw  that  something  must 
be  done.  It  was  impossible  to  .look  with  indifference  on  a 
danger  of  so  formidable  a  character.  I  am  a  Massachusetts 
man,  and  I  bore  in  mind  what  Massachusetts  has  ever  been  to 
the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  I  felt  the  importance  of  the 
duty  which  devolved  upon  one  to  whom  she  had  so  long  con 
fided  the  trust  of  representing  her  in  either  house  of  Congress. 
As  I  honored  her,  and  respected  her,  I  felt  that  I  was  serving  her 
in  my  endeavors  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  whole  country. 

And  now  suppose,  Gentlemen,  that,  on  the  occasion  in  ques 
tion,  I  had  taken  a  different  course.  If  I  may  allude  so  par 
ticularly  to  an  individual  so  insignificant  as  myself,  suppose 
that,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1850,  instead  of  making  a  speech 
that  would,  so  far  as  my  power  went,  reconcile  the  country, 
I  had  joined  in  the  general  clamor  of  the  Antislavery  party. 
Suppose  I  had  said,  "  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  any 
accommodation;  we  will  admit  no  compromise;  we  will  let 
Texas  invade  New  Mexico;  we  will  leave  New  Mexico  and 


262       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Utah  to  take  care  oi  themselves;  we  will  plant  ourselves  or 
the  Wilmot  Proviso,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  may." 
Now,  Gentlemen,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  great  consequences 
would  have  followed  from  such  a  course  on  my  part ;  but  sup 
pose  I  had  taken  such  a  course.  How  could  I  be  blamed  foi 
it  ?  Was  I  not  a  Northern  man  ?  Did  I  not  know  Massachu 
setts  feelings  and  prejudices?  But  what  of  that?  I  am  an 
American.  I  was  made  a  whole  man,  and  I  did  not  mean  tc 
make  myself  half  a  one.  I  felt  that  I  had  a  duty  to  perform  tc 
my  country,  to  my  own  reputation ;  for  I  flattered  myself  that  a 
service  of  forty  years  had  given  me  some  character,  on  which  ] 
had  a  right  to  repose  for  my  justification  in  the  performance  of 
a  duty  attended  with  some  degree  of  local  unpopularity.  ] 
thought  it  my  duty  to  pursue  this  course,  and  I  did  not  cart 
what  was  to  be  the  consequence.  I  felt  it  was  my  duty,  in  a 
very  alarming  crisis,  to  come  out ;  to  go  for  my  country,  and  mj 
whole  country ;  and  to  exert  any  power  I  had  to  keep  that  coun 
try  together.  I  cared  for  nothing,  I  was  afraid  of  nothing,  but  ] 
meant  to  do  my  duty.  Duty  performed  makes  a  man  happy 
duty  neglected  makes  a  man  unhappy.  I  therefore,  in  the 
face  of  all  discouragements  and  all  dangers,  was  ready  to  gc 
forth  and  do  what  I  thought  my  country,  your  country,  de 
manded  of  me.  And,  Gentlemen,  allow  me  to  say  here  to-day 
that  if  the  fate  of  John  Rogers  had  stared  me  in  the  face,  if  ] 
had  seen  the  stake,  if  I  had  heard  the  faggots  already  crackling 
by  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  I  would  have  gone  on  and  dis 
charged  the  duty  which  I  thought  my  country  called  upon  me 
to  perform.  I  would  have  become  a  martyr  to  save  tha 
country. 

And  now,  Gentlemen,  farewell.  Live  and  be  happy.  Live 
like  patriots,  live  like  Americans.  Live  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
inestimable  blessings  which  your  fathers  prepared  for  you ;  anc 
if  any  thing  that  I  may  do  hereafter  should  be  inconsistent,  ii 
the  slightest  degree,  with  the  opinions  and  principles  which  . 
have  this  day  submitted  to  you,  then  discard  me  for  ever  fron 
your  recollection. 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany 


I 


Introductory  Note 


ON  his  journey  from  Buffalo  to  New  York,  Mr.  Webster  received,  be 
fore  reaching  Albany,  the  following  letter  of  invitation :  — 

"  SIR, —  The  subscribers,  having  learned  that  you  will  probably  pass 
through  our  city  early  in  the  ensuing  week,  respectfully  request  an  op 
portunity  for  our  citizens  generally,  irrespective  of  party,  and  especially 
the  young  men  of  Albany,  to  testify  their  admiration  of  your  character 
and  talents  as  an  American  statesman,  and  their  high  appreciation  of 
your  public  services  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 

"  They  therefore  respectfully  invite  you  to  partake  with  them  of  a 
dinner  at  Congress  Hall,  on  the  day  of  your  arrival,  or  such  other  day 
as  may  suit  your  convenience. 

"  They  beg  leave  to  add,  that,  if  your  health  will  permit  you  to  ad 
dress  our  citizens  at  the  Capitol,  it  would  afford  them  great  gratification 
to  hear  your  views  upon  public  affairs  and  the  general  condition  of  the 
country. 

"  Albany,  May  24,  1851." 

This  letter  was  signed  by  a  large  number  of  the  most  respectable  citi 
zens  of  Albany,  without  distinction  of  party. 

The  invitation  having  been  accepted  by  Mr.  Webster,  arrangements 
were  made  for  a  public  reception  on  the  day  of  his  arrival.  A  platform 
was  erected  near  the  Capitol,  to  which,  at  two  o'clock,  P.  M.,  on  the 
28th  of  May,  he  was  conducted  by  Messrs.  Rice  and  Porter,  of  the  com 
mittee  of  the  young  men  of  Albany.  Mr.  Webster  was  introduced  to  the 
immense  assembly  by  Hon.  John  C.  Spencer,  and,  after  the  acclama 
tion  with  which  he  was  received  had  subsided,  delivered  the  following 
speech. 


266       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

The  revised  edition  of  the  speech,  in  a  pamphlet  form,  was  Intro 
duced  by  the  following 


DEDICATION. 


TO 

THE    YOUNG    MEN    OF    ALBANY, 

THIS  SPEECH, 
DELIVERED   AT   THEIR   REQUEST, 

IS    MOST    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED. 

"COGITSTIS  OMNEM  DIGNITATEM  VESTRAM  CUM  REPUBLICA  CONJUNCTAM  ESSE  DEBERE.      UNA    NAVIS 

EST   JAM    BONORUM    OMNIUM;    CIUAM  auiDEM  NOS  DAMUS    OPERAM.   UT   RECTAM    TENK- 
AMUS.      UTINAM    I^OSPERO    CHRSU.     SED    auicuNQus  VENTI    ERUNT  ARS  NOSTRA  CKRTE  NON 

ABERIT." 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany 


FELLOW-CITIZENS,  —  I  owe  the  honor  of  this  occasion,  and  I 
esteem  it  an  uncommon  and  extraordinary  honor,  to  the  young 
men  of  this  city  of  Albany,  and  it  is  my  first  duty  to  express  to 
these  young  men  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  respect  they  have 
manifested  towards  me.  Nevertheless,  young  men  of  Albany, 
I  do  not  mistake  you,  or  your  object,  or  your  purpose.  I  am 
proud  to  take  to  myself  whatever  may  properly  belong  to  me, 
as  a  token  of  personal  and  political  regard  on  your  part.  But 
I  know,  young  men  of  Albany,  it  is  not  I,  but  the  cause;  it 
is  not  I,  but  your  own  generous  attachments  to  your  country ; 
it  is  not  I,  but  the  Constitution  of  the  Union,  which  has  bound 
together  your  ancestors  and  mine,  and  all  of  us,  for  more  than 
half  a  century,  —  it  is  this  that  has  brought  you  here  to-day,  to 
testify  your  regard  toward  one  who,  to  the  best  of  his  humble 
ability,  has  sustained  that  cause  before  the  country.  Go  on, 
young  men  of  Albany!  Go  on,  young  men  of  the  United 
States!  Early  manhood  is  the  chief  prop  and  support,  the 
great  reliance  and  hope,  for  the  preservation  of  public  liberty  and 
the  institutions  of  the  land.  Early  manhood  is  ingenuous,  gen 
erous,  just.  It  looks  forward  to  a  long  life  of  honor  or  dishonor, 
and  it  means  that  it  shall,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  be  a  life  of 
honor,  of  usefulness,  and  success,  in  all  the  professions  and  pur 
suits  of  life,  and  that  it  shall  close,  when  close  it  must,  with 
some  claim  to  the  gratitude  of  the  country.  Go  on,  then ;  up 
hold  the  institutions  under  which  you  were  born.  You  are 
manly  and  bold.  You  fear  nothing  but  to  do  wrong ;  dread 
nothing  but  to  be  found  recreant  to  your  country. 

*  Delivered  on  the  28th  of  May,  1851,  at  the  Invitation  of  the  Young  Men  of 
Albany,  in  the  Public  Square  of  the  Capitol  in  that  City. 


268       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Gentlemen,  I  certainly  had  no  expectation  of  appearing  before 
such  an  assemblage  as  this  to-day.  It  is  not  probable  that,  for 
a  long  time  to  come,  I  may  again  address  any  large  meeting  of 
my  fellow-citizens.  If  I  should  not,  and  if  this  should  be  the 
last,  or  among  the  last,  of  all  the  occasions  on  which  I  am  to 
appear  before  any  great  number  of  the  people  of  the  country,  I 
shall  not  regret  that  that  appearance  was  here.  I  find  myself  in 
the  political  capital  of  the  greatest,  most  commercial,  most  pow 
erful  State  of  the  Union.  I  find  myself  here  by  the  invitation 
of  persons  of  the  highest  respectability,  without  distinction  of 
party.  I  consider  the  occasion  as  somewhat  august.  I  know 
that  among  those  who  now  listen  to  me  there  are  some  of  the 
wisest,  the  best,  the  most  patriotic,  and  the  most  experienced 
public  and  private  men  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Here  are 
governors  and  ex-governors,  here  are  judges  and  ex-judges,  of 
high  character  and  high  station ;  and  here  are  persons  from  all 
the  walks  of  professional  and  private  life,  distinguished  for  tal 
ent,  and  virtue,  and  eminence.  Fellow-citizens,  before  such  an 
assemblage,  and  on  such  an  invitation,  I  feel  bound  to  guard 
every  opinion  and  every  expression  ;  to  speak  with  precision  such 
sentiments  as  I  advance,  and  to  be  careful  in  all  that  I  say,  that 
I  may  not  be  misapprehended  or  misrepresented. 

I  am  requested,  fellow-citizens,  by  those  who  invited  me,  to 
express  my  sentiments  on  the  state  of  public  affairs  in  this  coun 
try,  and  the  interesting  questions  which  are  before  us.  This 
proves,  Gentlemen,  that  in  their  opinion  there  are  questions 
sometimes  arising  which  range  above  all  party,  and  all  the  in 
fluences  and  considerations  and  interests  of  party.  It  proves 
more ;  it  proves  that,  in  their  judgment,  this  is  a  time  in  which 
public  affairs  rise  in  importance  above  the  range  of  party,  and 
draw  to  them  an  interest  paramount  to  ah1  party  considerations. 
If  this  be  not  so,  I  am  here  without  object,  and  you  are  listening 
to  me  for  no  purpose  whatever. 

Then,  Gentlemen,  what  is  the  condition  of  public  affairs 
which  makes  it  necessary  and  proper  for  men  to  meet,  and  con 
fer  together  on  the  state  of  the  country  ?  What  are  the  ques 
tions  which  are  transcending,  subduing,  and  overwhelming  party, 
inciting  honest,  well-meaning  persons  to  lay  party  aside,  and  to 
meet  and  confer  for  the  general  weal  ?  I  shall,  of  course,  not 
enter  at  large  into  many  of  these  questions,  nor  into  any  length- 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany    269 

ened  discussion  of  the  state  of  public  affairs,  but  shall  endeavor 
in  general  to  state  what  that  condition  is,  what  those  questions 
are,  and  to  pronounce  a  conscientious  judgment  of  my  own 
upon  the  whole. 

The  last  Congress,  fellow-citizens,  passed  laws  called  adjust 
ment  measures,  or  settlement  measures ;  laws  intended  to  put 
an  end  to  certain  internal  and  domestic  controversies  existing  in 
the  country,  and  some  of  which  had  existed  for  a  long  time. 
These  laws  were  passed  by  the  constitutional  majorities  of  both 
houses  of  Congress.  They  received  the  constitutional  approba 
tion  of  the  President.  They  are  the  laws  of  the  land.  To 
some  or  all  of  them,  indeed  to  all  of  them,  at  the  time  of  their 
passage,  there  existed  warm  and  violent  opposition.  None  of 
them  passed  without  heated  discussion.  Government  was  es 
tablished  in  each  of  the  Territories  of  New  Mexico  and  Utah, 
but  not  without  opposition.  The  boundary  of  Texas  was  set 
tled  by  compromise  with  that  State,  but  not  without  determined 
and  earnest  resistance.  These  laws  all  passed,  however,  and, 
as  they  have  now  become,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  irre- 
pealable,  it  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  detain  you  by  dis 
cussing  their  merits  or  demerits.  Nevertheless,  Gentlemen,  I 
desire,  on  this  and  all  public  occasions,  in  the  clearest  and  most 
emphatic  manner,  to  declare,  that  I  hold  some  of  these  laws,  and 
especially  that  which  provided  for  the  adjustment  of  the  contro 
versy  with  Texas,  to  have  been  essential  to  the  preservation  of 
the  public  peace. 

I  will  not  now  argue  that  point,  nor  lay  before  you  at  length 
the  circumstances  which  existed  at  that  time ;  the  peculiar  situ 
ation  of  things  in  so  many  of  the  Southern  States ;  the  fact  that 
many  of  those  States  had  adopted  measures  for  the  separation 
of  the  Union  ;  or  the  fact  that  Texas  was  preparing  to  assert  her 
claims  to  territory  which  New  Mexico  thought  was  hers  by 
right,  and  that  hundreds  and  thousands  of  men,  tired  of  the  ordi 
nary  pursuits  of  private  life,  were  ready  to  rise  and  unite  in  any 
enterprise  that  might  offer  itself  to  them,  even  at  the  risk  of  a 
direct  conflict  with  the  authority  of  this  government.  I  say, 
therefore,  without  going  into  the  argument  with  any  detail, 
that  in  March  of  1850,  when  I  found  it  my  duty  to  address 
Congress  on  these  important  topics,  it  was  my  conscientious 
belief,  and  it  still  remains  unshaken,  that  if  the  controversy  with 


270       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Texas  could  not  be  amicably  adjusted,  there  must,  in  all  proba 
bility,  be  civil  war  and  bloodshed ;  and  in  the  contemplation 
of  such  a  prospect,  although  we  took  it  for  granted  that  no 
opposition  could  arise  to  the  authority  of  the  United  States  that 
would  not  be  suppressed,  it  appeared  of  little  consequence  on 
which  standard  victory  should  perch.  But  what  of  that  ?  I  was 
not  anxious  about  military  consequences ;  I  looked  to  the  civil 
and  political  state  of  things,  and  their  results,  and  I  inquired 
what  would  be  the  condition  of  the  country,  if,  in  this  state  of 
agitation,  if,  in  this  vastly  extended,  though  not  generally  per 
vading  feeling  at  the  South,  war  should  break  out  and  blood 
shed  should  ensue  in  that  quarter  of  the  Union?  That  was 
enough  for  me  to  inquire  into  and  consider ;  and  if  the  chances 
had  been  but  one  in  a  thousand  that  civil  war  would  be  the  re 
sult,  I  should  still  have  felt  that  that  one  thousandth  chance 
should  be  guarded  against  by  any  reasonable  sacrifice,  because, 
Gentlemen,  sanguine  as  I  am  of  the  future  prosperity  of  the 
country,  strongly  as  I  believe  now,  after  what  has  passed,  and 
especially  after  the  enactment  of  those  measures  to  which  I 
have  referred,  that  it  is  likely  to  hold  together,  I  yet  believe 
firmly  that  this  Union,  once  broken,  is  utterly  incapable,  accord 
ing  to  all  human  experience,  of  being  reconstructed  in  its  origi 
nal  character,  of  being  re-cemented  by  any  chemistry,  or  art,  or 
effort,  or  skill  of  man. 

Now,  then,  Gentlemen,  let  us  pass  from  those  measures  which 
are  now  accomplished  and  settled.  California  is  in  the  Union, 
and  cannot  be  got  out ;  the  Texas  boundary  is  settled,  and  can 
not  be  disturbed ;  Utah  and  New  Mexico  are  Territories,  under 
provision  of  law,  according  to  accustomed  usage  in  former  cases ; 
and  these  things  may  be  regarded  as  finally  adjusted.  But  then 
there  was  another  subject,  equally  agitating  and  equally  irritat 
ing,  which,  in  its  nature,  must  always  be  subject  to  reconsider 
ation  or  proposed  amendment,  and  that  is,  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  of  1850,  passed  at  the  same  session  of  Congress. 

Allow  me  to  advert,  very  shortly,  to  what  I  consider  the 
ground  of  that  law.  You  know,  and  I  know,  that  it  was  very 
much  opposed  in  the  Northern  States;  sometimes  with  argu 
ment  not  unfair,  often  by  mere  ebullition  of  party,  and  often  by 
those  whirlwinds  of  fanaticism  that  raise  a  dust  and  blind  the 
eyes,  but  produce  no  other  effect.  Now,  Gentlemen,  this  ques- 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany   271 

tion  of  the  propriety  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  or  the  enactment 
of  some  such  law,  is  a  question  that  must  be  met.  Its  enemies 
will  not  let  it  sleep  or  slumber.  They  will  "  give  neither  sleep 
to  their  eyes  nor  slumber  to  their  eyelids  "  so  long  as  they  can 
agitate  it  before  the  people.  It  is  with  them  a  topic,  a  desirable 
topic,  and  all  who  have  much  experience  in  political  affairs 
know,  that,  for  party  men  and  in  party  times,  there  is  hardly 
any  thing  so  desirable  as  a  topic.  Now,  Gentlemen,  I  am  ready 
to  meet  this  question.  I  am  ready  to  meet  it,  and  ready  to  say 
that  it  was  right,  proper,  expedient,  and  just  that  a  suitable  law 
should  be  passed  for  the  restoration  of  fugitive  slaves,  found  in 
free  States,  to  their  owners  in  slave  States.  I  am  ready  to  say 
that,  because  I  only  repeat  the  words  of  the  Constitution  itself, 
and  I  am  not  afraid  of  being  considered  a  plagiarist,  nor  a  feeble 
imitator  of  other  men's  language  and  sentiments,  when  I  repeat 
and  announce  to  every  part  of  the  Union,  to  you,  here,  and  at 
all  times,  the  language  of  the  Constitution  of  my  country. 

Gentlemen,  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  slavery  existed  in 
the  Southern  States,  and  had  existed  there  for  more  than  a  hun 
dred  years.  We  of  the  North  were  not  guilty  of  its  introduc 
tion.  That  generation  of  men,  even  in  the  South,  were  not 
guilty  of  it.  It  had  been  introduced  according  to  the  policy  of 
the  mother  country,  before  the  United  States  were  independent ; 
indeed,  before  there  were  any  authorities  in  the  Colonies  com 
petent  to  resist  it.  Why,  Gentlemen,  men's  opinions  have  so 
changed  on  this  subject,  and  properly,  the  world  has  come  to  hold 
sentiments  so  much  more  just,  that  we  can  hardly  believe,  what  is 
certainly  true,  that  at  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  1748,  the 
English  government  insisted  on  the  fulfilment,  to  its  full  extent, 
of  a  condition  in  the  treaty  of  the  Asiento,  signed  at  Utrecht,  in 
1713,  by  which  the  Spanish  government  had  granted  the  un 
qualified  and  exclusive  privilege  to  the  British  government  of 
importing  slaves  into  the  Spanish  colonies  in  America !  That 
was  not  then  repugnant  to  public  sentiment;  happily,  such  a 
contract  would  be  execrated  now. 

I  allude  to  this  only  to  show  that  the  introduction  of  slavery 
into  the  Southern  States  is  not  to  be  visited  upon  the  generation 
that  achieved  the  independence  of  this  country.  On  the  con 
trary,  all  the  eminent  men  of  that  day  regretted  its  existence. 
And  you,  my  young  friends  of  Albany,  if  you  will  take  the 


272      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

pains  to  go  back  to  the  debates  of  the  period,  from  the  meet 
ing  of  the  first  Congress,  in  1774,  I  mean  the  Congress  of  the 
Confederation,  to  the  adoption  of  the  present  Constitution,  and 
the  enactment  of  the  first  laws  under  it,  —  you,  or  any  body 
who  will  make  that  necessary  research,  will  find  that  South 
ern  men  and  Southern  States,  as  represented  in  Congress,  la 
mented  the  existence  of  slavery  in  far  more  earnest  and  em 
phatic  terms  than  the  Northern ;  for,  though  it  did  exist  in  the 
Northern  States,  it  was  a  feeble  taper,  just  going  out,  soon  to 
end,  and  nothing  was  feared  from  it,  while  leading  men  of  the 
South,  and  especially  of  Virginia,  felt  and  acknowledged  that  it 
was  a  moral  and  political  evil ;  that  it  weakened  the  arm  of  the 
freeman,  and  kept  back  the  progress  and  success  of  free  labor ; 
and  they  said  with  truth,  and  all  history  verifies  the  observation, 
"  that  if  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake  had  been  made  as  free  to 
free  labor  as  the  shores  of  the  North  River,  New  York  might 
have  been  great,  but  Virginia  would  have  been  great  also." 
That  was  the  sentiment. 

Now  under  this  state  of  things,  Gentlemen,  when  the  Consti 
tution  was  framed,  its  framers,  and  the  people  who  adopted  it, 
came  to  a  clear,  express,  unquestionable  stipulation  and  com 
pact.  There  had  been  an  ancient  practice,  a  practice  a  century 
old,  for  aught  I  know,  according  to  which  fugitives  from  ser 
vice,  whether  apprentices  at  the  North  or  slaves  at  the  South, 
should  be  restored.  Massachusetts  had  restored  fugitive  slaves 
to  Virginia  long  before  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  it 
is  well  known  that  in  other  States,  in  which  slavery  did  or  did 
not  exist,  they  were  restored  also,  on  proper  application.  And 
it  was  held  that  any  man  could  pursue  his  slave  and  take  him 
wherever  he  could  find  him.  Under  this  state  of  things,  it  was 
expressly  stipulated,  in  the  plainest  language,  and  there  it  stands, 
—  sophistry  cannot  gloss  it,  it  cannot  be  erased  from  the  page  of 
the  Constitution  ;  there  it  stands,  —  that  persons  held  to  service 
or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into 
another,  shall  not,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  there 
in,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  deliv 
ered  up  upon  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor 
shall  be  due.  This  was  adopted  without  dissent ;  it  was  no 
where  objected  to,  North  or  South,  but  considered  as  a  matter 
of  absolute  right  and  justice  to  the  Southern  States,  and  con- 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany   273 

curred  in  everywhere,  by  every  State  that  adopted  the  Constitu 
tion  ;  and  we  look  in  vain  for  any  opposition  to  it,  from  Massa 
chusetts  to  Georgia. 

This,  then,  being  the  case,  this  being  the  provision  of  the  Con 
stitution,  it  was  found  necessary,  in  General  Washington's  time, 
to  pass  a  law  to  carry  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  into 
effect.  Such  a  law  was  prepared  and  passed.  It  was  prepared 
by  a  gentleman  from  a  Northern  State.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
drawn  up  by  Mr.  Cabot,  of  Massachusetts.  It  was  supported 
by  him,  and  by  Mr.  Goodhue,  and  by  Mr.  Sedgwick,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  and  generally  by  all  the  free  States.  It  passed  with 
out  a  division  in  the  Senate,  and  with  but  seven  votes  against 
it  in  the  House.  It  went  into  operation,  and  for  a  time  it  sat 
isfied  the  just  rights  and  expectations  of  every  body.  That  law 
provided  that  its  enactments  should  be  carried  into  effect  mainly 
by  State  magistrates,  justices  of  the  peace,  judges  of  State 
courts,  sheriffs,  and  other  organs  of  State  authority.  So  things 
went  on,  without  loud  complaints  from  any  quarter,  until  some 
fifteen  years  ago,  when  some  of  the  States,  the  free  States, 
thought  it  proper  to  pass  laws  prohibiting  their  own  magistrates 
and  officers  from  executing  this  law  of  Congress,  under  heavy 
penalties,  and  refusing  to  the  United  States  authorities  the  use 
of  their  prisons  for  the  detention  of  persons  arrested  as  fugitive 
slaves.  That  is  to  say,  these  States  passed  acts  defeating  the 
law  of  Congress,  as  far  as  it  was  in  their  power  to  defeat  it. 
Those  of  them  to  which  I  refer,  not  all,  but  several,  nullified  the 
law  of  1793  entirely.  They  said,  in  effect,  "  We  will  not  exe 
cute  it.  No  runaway  slave  shall  be  restored."  Thus  the  law 
became  a  dead  letter,  an  entire  dead  letter.  But  here  was  the 
constitutional  compact,  nevertheless,  still  binding ;  here  was  the 
stipulation,  as  solemn  as  words  could  form  it,  and  which  every 
member  of  Congress,  every  officer  of  the  general  government, 
every  officer  of  the  State  governments,  from  governors  down 
to  constables,  is  sworn  to  support.  Well,  under  this  state  of 
things,  in  1850,  I  was  of  opinion  that  common  justice  and  good 
faith  called  upon  us  to  make  a  law,  fair,  reasonable,  equitable, 
and  just,  that  should  be  calculated  to  carry  this  constitutional 
provision  into  effect,  and  give  the  Southern  States  what  they 
were  entitled  to,  and  what  it  was  intended  originally  they  should 
receive,  that  is,  the  fair,  right,  and  reasonable  means  to  recover 
VOL.  iv.  — 18 


274      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

their  fugitives  from  service  from  the  States  into  which  they  had 
fled.  I  was  of  opinion  that  it  was  the  bounden  duty  of  Con 
gress  to  pass  such  a  law.  The  South  insisted  they  had  a  right 
to  it,  and  I  thought  they  properly  so  insisted.  It  was  no  con 
cession,  no  yielding  of  any  thing,  no  giving  up  of  any  thing 
When  called  on  to  fulfil  a  compact,  the  question  is,  Will  you 
fulfil  it  ?  And,  for  one,  I  was  ready.  I  said,  "  I  will  fulfil  it  by 
any  fair  and  reasonable  act  of  legislation." 

Now,  the  law  of  1850  had  two  objects,  both  of  which  were 
accomplished.  First,  it  was  to  make  the  law  more  favorable 
for  the  fugitive  than  the  law  of  1793.  It  did  so,  because  it 
called  for  a  record,  under  seal,  from  a  court  in  the  State  from 
which  the  fugitive  came,  proving  the  fact  that  he  was  a  fu 
gitive,  so  that  nothing  should  be  left,  when  pursued  into  a 
free  State,  but  to  produce  the  proof  of  his  identity.  Besides 
this,  it  secured  a  higher  tribunal,  and  it  placed  the  power  in 
more  responsible  hands.  The  judges  of  the  Supreme  and  Dis 
trict  Courts  of  the  United  States,  and  learned  persons  appointed 
by  them  as  commissioners,  were  to  see  to  the  execution  of  the 
law.  It  was,  accordingly,  a  law  more  favorable,  in  all  respects, 
to  the  fugitive,  than  the  law  passed  under  General  Washing 
ton's  administration  in  1793.  The  second  object  was  to  carry 
the  constitutional  provision  into  effect  by  the  authority  of  law, 
seeing  that  the  States  had  prevented  the  execution  of  the  former 
law. 

Now,  let  me  say  that  this  law  has  been  discussed,  considered, 
and  adjudged  in  a  great  many  of  the  tribunals  of  the  country. 
It  has  been  the  subject  of  discussion  before  judges  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  the  United  States;  the  subject  of  discussion 
before  courts  the  most  respectable  in  the  States.  Everywhere, 
on  all  occasions,  and  by  all  judges,  it  has  been  held  to  be,  and 
pronounced  to  be,  a  constitutional  law.  So  say  Judges  Grier, 
McLean,  Nelson,  Woodbury,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  judges,  as 
far  as  I  know,  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  This  is  the  opinion  of  Massachusetts  herself,  expressed 
by  as  good  a  court  as  ever  sat  in  Massachusetts,  its  present 
Supreme  Court,  given  unanimously,  and  without  hesitation. 
And  so  says  every  body  eminent  for  learning,  and  knowledge 
of  constitutional  law,  and  good  judgment,  without  opposition, 
without  intermixture  of  dissent,  or  difference  of  judicial  opinion 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany    275 

anywhere.  And  I  hope  I  may  be  allowed  on  this  occasion. 
Gentlemen,  partly  on  account  of  a  high  personal  regard,  and 
partly  for  the  excellence  and  ability  of  the  production,  to  refer 
you  all  to  a  recent  very  short  opinion  of  Mr.  Prentiss,  the  district 
judge  of  Vermont.  True,  the  case  before  him  did  not  turn  so 
much  on  the  question  of  the  constitutionality  of  this  law,  as 
upon  the  unconstitutionality,  the  illegality,  and  utter  inadmissi- 
bility  of  the  notion  of  private  men  and  political  bodies  setting 
up  their  own  whims,  or  their  own  opinions,  above  it,  on  the  idea 
of  the  higher  law  that  exists  somewhere  between  us  and  the 
third  heaven,  I  never  knew  exactly  where. 

All  judicial  opinions  are  in  favor  of  this  law.  You  cannot 
find  a  man  in  the  profession  in  New  York,  whose  income  reaches 
thirty  pounds  a  year,  who  will  stake  his  professional  reputation 
on  an  opinion  against  it.  If  he  does,  his  reputation  is  not  worth 
the  thirty  pounds.  And  yet  this  law  is  opposed,  violently  op 
posed,  not  by  bringing  this  question  into  court ;  these  lovers  of 
human  liberty,  these  friends  of  the  slave,  the  fugitive  slave,  do 
not  put  their  hands  in  their  pockets,  and  draw  funds  to  conduct 
lawsuits,  and  try  the  question ;  they  are  not  rmich  in  that  habit 
That  is  not  the  way  they  show  their  devotion  to  liberty  of  any 
kind.  But  they  meet  and  pass  resolutions ;  they  resolve  that  the 
law  is  oppressive,  unjust,  and  should  not  be  executed  at  any 
rate,  or  under  any  circumstances.  It  has  been  said  in  the  States 
of  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  Ohio,  over  and  over  again, 
that  the  law  shall  not  be  executed.  That  was  the  language 
of  conventions  in  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  in  Syracuse,  New 
York,  and  elsewhere.  And  for  this  they  pledged  their  lives,  their 
fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor !  Now,  Gentlemen,  these  pro 
ceedings,  I  say  it  upon  my  professional  reputation,  are  distinctly 
treasonable.  Resolutions  passed  in  Ohio,  certain  resolutions  in 
New  York,  and  in  conventions  held  in  Boston,  are  distinctly  trea 
sonable.  And  the  act  of  taking  away  Shadrach  from  the  public 
authorities  in  Boston,  and  sending  him  off,  was  an  act  of  clear 
treason.  I  speak  this  in  the  hearing  of  men  who  are  lawyers ; 
I  speak  it  out  to  the  country ;  I  say  it  everywhere,  on  my  pro 
fessional  reputation.  It  was  treason,  and  nothing  less  ;  that  is 
to  say,  if  men  get  together,  and  combine,  and  resolve  that  they 
will  oppose  a  law  of  the  government,  not  in  any  one  case,  but 
in  all  cases ;  if  they  resolve  to  resist  the  law,  whoever  may  be 


276      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

attempted  to  be  made  the  subject  of  it,  and  carry  that  purpose 
into  effect,  by  resisting  the  application  of  the  law  in  any  one 
case,  either  by  force  of  arms  or  force  of  numbers,  that,  Sir,  is 
treason.  You  know  it  well  [addressing  Mr.  Spencer].  The 
resolution,  itself,  unacted  on,  is  not  treason ;  it  only  manifests  a 
treasonable  purpose.  When  this  purpose  is  proclaimed,  and  it 
is  proclaimed  that  it  will  be  carried  out  in  all  cases,  and  is  car 
ried  into  effect,  by  force  of  arms  or  of  numbers,  in  any  one  case, 
that  constitutes  a  case  of  levying  war  against  the  Union ;  and 
if  it  were  necessary,  I  might  cite  in  illustration  the  case  of  John 
Fries,  convicted  in  1799  for  being  concerned  in  an  insurrection 
in  Pennsylvania. 

Now,  various  are  the  arguments,  and  various  the  efforts,  to 
denounce  this  law ;  to  oppose  its  execution ;  to  hold  it  up  as  a 
subject  of  agitation  and  popular  excitement.  They  are  as  di 
verse  as  the  varied  ingenuity  of  man,  and  the  aspect  of  such 
questions  when  they  come  before  the  public.  It  is  a  common 
thing  to  say  that  the  law  is  odious  ;  and  that  therefore  it  cannot 
be  executed,  and  will  not  be  executed.  That  has  always  been 
said  by  those  who  do  not  mean  it  shall  be  executed  ;  not  by  any 
body  else.  They  assume  the  fact  that  it  cannot  be  executed,  to 
make  that  true  which  they  wish  shall  turn  out  to  be  true.  They 
wish  that  it  shall  not  be  executed,  arid  therefore  announce  to 
all  mankind  that  it  cannot  be  executed.  When  public  men,  and 
the  conductors  of  newspapers  of  influence  and  authority,  thus 
deal  with  the  subject,  they  deal  unfairly  with  it.  Those  who 
have  types  at  command  have  a  perfect  right  to  express  their 
opinions ;  but  I  doubt  their  right  to  express  opinions  as  facts. 
I  doubt  whether  they  have  a  right  to  say,  not  as  a  matter  of 
opinion,  but  of  fact,  that  this  particular  law  is  so  odious,  here 
and  elsewhere,  that  it  cannot  be  executed.  That  only  proves 
that  they  are  of  opinion  that  it  ought  not,  that  they  hope  it  may 
not,  be  executed.  They  do  not  say,  "  Let  us  see  if  any  wrong 
is  inflicted  on  any  body  by  it,  before  we  wage  war  upon  it ;  let 
us  hope  to  find  in  its  operation  no  wrong  or  injury  to  any  body. 
Let  us  give  it  a  fair  experiment."  Do  any  of  them  hold  that 
language  ?  Not  one.  "  The  wish  is  father  to  the  thought." 
They  wish  that  it  may  not  be  executed,  and  therefore  they  say 
it  cannot  and  will  not  be  executed.  That  is  one  of  the  modes 
of  presenting  the  case  to  the  people ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  it  is 
not  quite  a  fair  mode  of  doing  it. 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany    277 

There  are  other  forms  and  modes  of  conducting  the  opposition 
to  the  law.  I  may  omit  to  notice  the  blustering  of  Abolition 
societies  at  Boston  and  elsewhere,  as  unworthy  of  regard ;  but 
there  are  other  forms  more  insidious,  and  equally  efficacious. 
There  are  men  who  say,  when  you  talk  of  amending  that  law, 
that  they  hope  it  will  not  be  touched.  You  talk  of  attempting 
it,  and  they  dissuade  you.  They  say,  "  Let  it  remain  as  obnox 
ious  as  it  can  be,  and  so  much  the  sooner  it  will  disgust,  and  be 
detested  by,  the  whole  community."  I  am  grieved  to  say  that 
such  sentiments  have  been  avowed  by  those  in  Massachusetts 
who  ought  to  be  ashamed,  utterly  ashamed,  to  express  such 
opinions.  For  what  do  they  mean  ?  They  mean  to  make  the 
law  obnoxious ;  so  obnoxious  that  it  shall  not  be  executed.  But 
still  they  suggest  no  other  law ;  they  oppose  all  amendment ; 
oppose  doing  any  thing  that  shall  make  it  less  distasteful.  What 
do  they  mean  ?  They  mean,  and  they  know  it,  that  there  shall 
exist  no  law  whatever,  if  they  can  prevent  it,  for  carrying  into 
effect  this  provision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  let  the 
consequences  be  what  they  may.  They  wish  to  strike  out  this 
constitutional  provision ;  to  annul  it.  They  oppose  it  in  every 
possible  form  short  of  personal  resistance,  or  incurring  personal 
danger ;  and  to  do  this  they  say  the  worse  the  law  is  the  better. 
They  say  we  have  now  a  topic,  and  for  mercy's  sake  don't 
amend  the  horrible  law  of  1850. 

Then,  again,  they  say,  "  We  are  for  an  eternal  agitation  and 
discussion  of  this  question ;  the  people  cannot  be  bound  by  it. 
Every  member  of  Congress  has  the  right  to  move  the  repeal  of 
this,  as  well  as  any  other  law."  Who  does  not  know  this,  Gen 
tlemen  ?  A  member  must  act  according  to  his  own  discretion. 
No  doubt  he  has  a  right  to-morrow,  if  Congress  were  in  session, 
to  move  a  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law;  but  this  takes 
with  it  another  consideration.  He  has  just  as  much  right  to 
move  to  tear  down  the  Capitol,  until  one  stone  shall  not  be  left 
on  another ;  just  as  much  right  to  move  to  disband  the  army, 
and  to  throw  the  ordnance  and  arms  into  the  sea.  He  has  just 
as  much  right  to  move  that  all  the  ships  of  war  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  collected  and  burned ;  an  illumination  like  that 
which  lit  up  the  walls  of  ancient  Troy.  He  may  move  to  do 
any  of  these  things.  The  question  is,  Is  he  prudent,  wise,  a 
real  friend  of  the  country,  or  adverse  to  it  ?  That  is  all.  And  a 


278      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

greater  question  lies  behind,  Will  the  people  support  him  in  it  ? 
Is  it  the  result  of  the  good  sense  of  the  Northern  people,  that  the 
question  shall  have  neither  rest  nor  quiet,  but  shall  be  constantly 
kept  up  as  a  topic  of  agitation  ?  I  cannot  decide  this  question 
for  the  people,  but  leave  them  to  decide  it  for  themselves. 

And  now,  Gentlemen,  this  is  a  serious  question,  whether  the 
Constitution  can  be  maintained  in  part,  and  not  as  a  whole; 
whether  those  interested  in  the  preservation  of  one  part  of  it, 
finding  their  interests  in  that  particular  abandoned,  are  not 
likely  enough,  according  to  all  experience  of  human  feeling  and 
human  conduct,  to  discard  that  portion  which  was  introduced, 
not  for  their  benefit,  but  for  the  benefit  of  others.  That  is  the 
question.  For  one,  I  confess  I  do  not  see  any  reasonable  pros 
pect  of  maintaining  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  un 
less  we  maintain  it  as  a  whole,  impartially,  honorably,  patrioti 
cally.  Gentlemen,  I  am  detaining  you  too  long;  but  allow  me 
a  few  words  on  another  subject  by  way  of  illustration. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  consists  in  a  series  of 
mutual  agreements  or  compromises,  one  thing  being  yielded  by 
the  South,  another  by  the  North ;  the  general  mind  having  been 
brought  together,  and  the  whole  agreed  to,  as  I  have  said,  as  a 
series  of  compromises  constituting  one  whole.  Well,  Gentle 
men,  who  does  not  see  that  ?  Had  the  North  no  particular  in 
terest  to  be  regarded  and  protected  ?  Had  the  North  no  pecu 
liar  interest  of  its  own  ?  Was  nothing  yielded  by  the  South  to 
the  North  ?  Gentlemen,  you  are  proud  citizens  of  a  great  com 
mercial  State.  You  know  that  New  York  ships  float  over  the 
whole  globe,  and  bring  abundance  of  riches  to  your  own  shores. 
You  know  that  this  is  the  result  of  the  commercial  policy  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  commercial  power  vested  in  Congress 
by  the  Constitution.  And  how  was  this  commerce  established  ? 
by  what  constitutional  provisions,  and  for  whose  benefit  ?  The 
South  was  never  a  commercial  country.  The  plantation  States 
were  never  commercial.  Their  interest  always  was,  as  they 
thought,  what  they  think  it  to  be  now,  free  trade,  the  unrestrict 
ed  admission  of  foreigners  in  competition  in  all  branches  of  busi 
ness  with  our  own  people.  But  what  did  they  do?  They 
agreed  to  form  a  government  that  should  regulate  commerce 
according  to  the  wants  and  wishes  of  the  Northern  States,  and 
when  the  Constitution  went  into  operation,  a  commercial  sys- 


Speech  of  the  Young  Men  of  Albany    279 

tern  was  actually  established,  on  which  has  risen  up  the  whole 
glory  of  New  York  and  New  England.  How  was  this  effected  ? 
What  did  Congress  do  under  a  Northern  lead  with  Southern 
acquiescence  ?  What  did  it  do  ?  It  protected  the  commerce  of 
New  York  and  the  Eastern  States,  by  preference,  by  discriminat 
ing  tonnage  duties ;  and  that  higher  duty  on  foreign  ships  has 
never  been  surrendered  to  this  day  except  in  consideration  of  a 
just  equivalent;  so,  in  that  respect,  without  grudging  or  com 
plaint  on  the  part  of  the  South,  but  generously  and  fairly,  not 
by  way  of  concession,  but  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  Constitution, 
the  commerce  of  New  York  and  the  New  England  States  was 
protected  by  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  to  which  I  have 
referred.  But  that  is  not  all. 

Friends !  fellow-citizens !  men  of  New  York !  does  this  coun 
try  not  now  extend  from  Maine  to  Mexico,  and  beyond  ?  Have 
we  not  a  State  beyond  Cape  Horn,  belonging  nevertheless  to 
us  as  part  of  our  commercial  system?  And  what  does  New 
York  enjoy  ?  What  do  Massachusetts  and  Maine  enjoy  ?  They 
enjoy  an  exclusive  right  of  carrying  on  the  coasting  trade  from 
State  to  State,  on  the  Atlantic,  and  around  Cape  Horn  to  the 
Pacific.  And  that  is  a  highly  important  branch  of  business,  and 
a  source  of  wealth  and  emolument,  of  comfort  and  good  living. 
Every  man  must  know  this,  who  is  not  blinded  by  passion  or 
fanaticism.  It  is  this  right  to  the  coasting  trade,  to  the  exclu 
sion  of  foreigners,  thus  granted  to  the  Northern  States,  which 
they  have  ever  held,  and  of  which,  up  to  this  time,  there  has 
been  no  attempt  to  deprive  them;  it  is  this  which  has  em 
ployed  so  much  tonnage  and  so  many  men,  and  given  support 
to  so  many  thousands  of  our  fellow-citizens.  Now  what  would 
you  say,  in  this  day  of  the  prevalence  of  notions  of  free  trade, 
—  what  would  you  say,  if  the  South  and  the  Southwest  were 
to  join  together  to  repeal  this  law  ?  And  they  have  the  votes 
to  do  it  to-morrow.  What  would  you  say  if  they  should  join 
hands  and  resolve  that  these  men  of  New  York  and  New  Eng 
land,  who  put  this  slight  on  their  interest,  shall  enjoy  this  ex 
clusive  privilege  no  longer?  that  they  will  throw  it  all  open, 
and  invite  the  Dane,  the  Swede,  the  Hamburgher,  and  all  the 
commercial  nations  of  Europe  who  can  carry  cheaper,  to  come 
in  and  carry  goods  from  New  York  coastwise  on  the  Atlantic, 
and  to  California,  on  the  Pacific  ?  What  would  you  say  to  that  I 


280      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Now,  Gentlemen,  these  ideas  may  have  been  often  suggested 
before,  but  if  there  is  any  thing  new  in  them  I  hope  it  may  be 
regarded.  But  what  was  said  in  Syracuse  and  in  Boston  ? 
It  was  this :  "  You  set  up  profit  against  conscience ;  you  set 
up  the  means  of  living :  we  go  for  conscience."  That  is  a  flight 
of  fanaticism,  and  all  I  have  to  answer  is,  that  if  what  we  pro 
pose  is  right,  fair,  just,  and  stands  well  with  a  conscience  not 
enlightened  with  those  high  flights  of  fancy,  it  is  none  the 
worse  for  being  profitable ;  and  that  it  does  not  make  a  thing 
bad  which  is  good  in  itself,  that  you  and  I  can  live  on  it,  and 
our  children  be  supported  and  educated  by  it.  If  the  compact 
of  the  Constitution  is  fair,  and  was  fairly  entered  into,  it  is 
none  the  worse,  one  should  think,  for  its  having  been  found  use 
ful.  Gentlemen,  I  believe  it  was  in  Cromwell's  time,  —  for  I 
am  not  very  fresh  in  the  recollection  of  my  early  reading ;  I 
have  had  more  to  do  with  other  things  than  some  of  you 
younger  men  that  love  to  look  into  the  instructive  history  of  that 
age,  —  but  I  think  it  was  in  Cromwell's  time  that  there  sprung 
up  a  race  of  saints  who  called  themselves  "  Fifth  Monarchy 
men  " ;  and  a  happy,  self-pleased,  glorious  people  they  were,  for 
they  had  practised  so  many  virtues,  they  were  so  enlightened,  so 
perfect,  that  they  got  to  be,  in  the  language  of  that  day,  "  above 
ordinances."  That  is  the  higher  law  of  this  day  exactly.  Our 
higher  law  is  but  the  old  doctrine  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men  of 
Cromwell's  time  revived.  They  were  above  ordinances,  walked 
about  prim  and  spruce,  self-satisfied,  thankful  to  God  that  they 
were  not  as  other  men,  but  had  attained  so  far  to  salvation  as 
to  be  "  above  all  necessity  of  restraint  and  control,  civil  or  relig 
ious."  Cromwell  himself  says  of  these  persons,  if  I  remember 
rightly,  "  that  notions  will  hurt  none  but  those  that  have  them ; 
but  when  they  tell  us,  not  that  law  is  to  regulate  us,  but  that  law 
is  to  be  abrogated  and  subverted,  and  perhaps  the  Judaical  law 
brought  in,  instead  of  our  own  laws  settled  among  us,"  this  is 
something  more  than  a  notion,  "  this  is  worthy  of  every  magis 
trate's  consideration." 

Gentlemen,  we  live  under  a  Constitution.  It  has  made  us 
what  we  are.  What  has  carried  the  American  flag  all  over  the 
world  ?  What  has  constituted  that  "  unit  of  commerce,"  that 
wherever  the  stars  and  stripes  are  seen,  they  signify  that  it  be 
longs  to  America  and  united  America  ?  What  is  it  now  that 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany    281 

represents  us  so  respectably  all  over  Europe  ?  in  London  at  this 
moment,  and  all  over  the  world  ?  What  is  it  but  the  result  of 
those  commercial  regulations  which  united  us  all  together,  and 
made  our  commerce  the  same  commerce;  which  made  all  the 
States,  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  South  Carolina,  in  the  as 
pect  of  our  foreign  relations  one  and  the  same  country,  without 
division,  distinction,  or  separation  ?  Now,  Gentlemen,  to  effect 
this  was  the  original  design  of  the  Constitution.  We  in  our  day 
must  see  to  it ;  and  it  will  be  equally  incumbent  on  you,  my 
young  friends  of  Albany,  to  see  that,  while  you  live,  this  spirit 
is  made  to  pervade  the  whole  administration  of  the  government. 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  keep  us  united,  to 
keep  a  fraternal  feeling  flowing  in  our  hearts,  must  be  adminis 
tered  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  framed. 

And,  Gentlemen,  if  I  wished  to  convey  to  you  an  idea  of 
what  that  spirit  is,  I  would  exhibit  it  to  you  in  its  living,  speak 
ing,  animated  form ;  I  would  refer  now  and  always  to  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  first  President,  George  Washington.  If  I 
were  now  to  describe  a  patriot  President,  I  would  draw  his 
master-strokes  and  copy  his  design ;  I  would  present  his  picture 
before  me  as  a  constant  study ;  I  would  display  his  policy,  alike 
liberal  and  just,  narrowed  down  to  no  sectional  interests,  bound 
to  no  personal  objects,  held  to  no  locality,  but  broad  and  gener 
ous  and  open,  as  expansive  as  the  air  which  is  wafted  by  the 
winds  of  heaven  from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another. 

I  would  draw  a  picture  of  his  foreign  policy,  just,  steady, 
stately,  but  withal  proud,  and  lofty,  and  glorious.  No  man 
apprehended,  in  his  day,  that  the  broad  escutcheon  of  the  Union 
could  receive  injury  or  damage,  or  even  contumely  or  disre 
spect,  with  impunity.  His  own  character  gave  character  to 
the  foreign  relations  of  the  country.  He  upheld  every  interest 
of  the  United  States  in  even  the  proudest  nations  of  Europe ; 
and  while  resolutely  just,  he  was  as  resolutely  determined  that 
no  plume  in  the  honor  of  the  country  should  ever  be  defaced  or 
moved  from  its  proper  position  by  any  power  on  earth.  Wash 
ington  was  cautious  and  prudent ;  no  self-seeker ;  giving  infor 
mation  to  Congress,  as  directed  by  the  Constitution,  on  all 
questions,  when  necessary,  with  fairness  and  frankness,  claiming 
nothing  for  himself,  exercising  his  own  rights,  and  preserving 
the  dignity  of  his  station,  but  taking  especial  care  to  execute 


282      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

the  laws  as  a  paramount  duty,  and  in  such  manner  as  to  give 
satisfaction  to  all  just  and  reasonable  men.  It  was  always 
remarked  of  his  administration,  that  he  filled  the  courts  of  jus 
tice  with  the  most  spotless  integrity,  the  highest  talent,  and  the 
purest  virtue ;  and  hence  it  became  a  common  saying,  running 
through  all  classes  of  society,  that  our  great  security  is  in  the 
learning  and  integrity  of  the  judicial  tribunals.  This  high  char 
acter  they  justly  possessed,  and  continue  to  possess  in  an  emi 
nent  degree  from  the  Impress  which  Washington  stamped  on 
these  tribunals  at  their  first  organization. 

Gentlemen,  a  patriot  President  is  the  guardian,  the  protector, 
the  friend,  of  every  citizen  of  the  United  States.  He  should  be, 
and  he  is,  no  man's  persecutor,  no  man's  enemy,  but  the  sup 
porter  and  the  protector  of  all  and  every  citizen,  so  far  as  such 
support  and  protection  depend  on  his  faithful  execution  of  the 
laws.  But  there  is  especially  one  great  idea  which  Washington 
presents,  and  which  governed  him,  and  which  should  govern 
every  man  high  in  office  who  means  to  resemble  Washington ; 
and  that  is,  the  duty  of  preserving  the  government  itself;  of  suf 
fering,  so  far  as  depends  on  him,  no  one  branch  to  interfere  with 
another;  no  power  to  be  assumed  by  any  department  which 
does  not  belong  to  it,  and  none  to  be  abandoned  which  does  be 
long  to  it,  but  to  preserve  it  and  carry  it  on  unharmed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  present  and  future  generations. 

Gentlemen,  a  wise  and  prudent  shipmaster  makes  it  his  first 
duty  to  preserve  the  vessel  which  carries  him,  and  his  passen 
gers,  and  all  that  is  committed  to  his  charge ;  to  keep  her  afloat, 
to  conduct  her  to  her  destined  port  with  entire  security  of  prop 
erty  and  life.  That  is  his  first  object,  and  that  should  be,  and 
is,  the  object  of  every  chief  magistrate  of  the  United  States,  who 
has  a  proper  appreciation  of  his  duty.  His  first  and  highest 
duty  is  to  preserve  the  Constitution  which  bears  him,  which  sus 
tains  the  government,  without  which  every  thing  goes  to  the 
bottom ;  to  preserve  that,  and  keep  it,  with  the  utmost  of  his 
ability  and  foresight,  off  the  rocks  and  shoals,  and  away  from 
the  quicksands.  To  accomplish  this  great  end,  he  exercises  the 
caution  of  the  experienced  navigator.  He  suffers  nothing  to 
betray  his  watchfulness,  or  to  draw  him  aside  from  the  great  in 
terest  committed  to  his  care ;  but  is  always  awake,  always  soli 
citous,  always  anxious,  for  the  safety  of  the  ship  which  is  to 
carry  him  through  the  stormy  seas. 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany   283 

"  Though  pleased  to  see  the  dolphins  play, 
He  minds  his  compass  and  his  way ; 
And  oft  he  throws  the  wary  lead, 
To  see  what  dangers  may  be  hid : 
At  helm  he  makes  his  reason  sit ; 
His  crew  of  passions  all  submit. 
Thus,  thus  he  steers  his  bark,  and  sails, 
On  upright  keel,  to  meet  the  gales !  " 

Now,  Gentlemen,  a  patriot  President,  acting  from  the  im 
pulses  of  this  high  and  honorable  purpose,  may  reach  what 
Washington  reached.  He  may  contribute  to  raise  high  the  pub 
lic  prosperity,  to  help  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  his  country's 
glory  and  renown.  He  may  be  able  to  find  a  rich  reward  in  the 
thankfulness  of  the  people, 

"  And  read  his  history  in  a  nation's  eyes." 


IN  the  evening  of  the  28th  of  May,  Mr.  Webster  was  entertained  at 
dinner  by  a  large  company  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  Albany. 
Hon.  John  C.  Spencer  presided  at  the  table,  and,  after  the  cloth  was 
removed,  addressed  the  company  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  am  about  to  offer  a  sentiment,  my  friends,  which  you  expect  from 
the  chair.  The  presence  of  the  distinguished  guest  whom  we  have  met 
to  honor  imposes  restraints  which  may  not  be  overleaped.  Within 
those  limits,  and  without  offending  the  generous  spirit  which  has  on  this 
occasion  discarded  all  political  and  partisan  feeling,  I  may  recall  to  our 
recollection  a  few  incidents  in  his  public  life,  which  have  won  for  him 
the  proud  title  of  4  Defender  of  the  Constitution.' 

"  When,  in  1832-33,  South  Carolina  raised  her  parricidal  arm  against 
our  common  mother,  and  the  administration  of  the  government  was  in 
the  hands  of  that  man  of  determined  purpose  and  iron  will,  Andrew 
Jackson,  whose  greatest  glory  was  his  inflexible  resolution  to  sustain  the 
Union  or  perish  with  it, —  in  that  dark  and  gloomy  day,  where  was  our 
guest  found  ?  Did  he  think  of  paltry  politics,  of  how  much  his  party 
might  gain  by  leaving  their  antagonists  to  fight  the  battle  of  the  Union 
between  themselves,  and  thus  become  a  prey  to  their  watchful  oppo 
nents  ?  No,  Gentlemen,  you  know  what  he  did.  He  rallied  his  mighty 
energies,  and  tendered  them  openly  and  heartily  to  a  political  chieftain 
whose  administration  he  had  constantly  opposed.  He  breasted  himself 
to  the  storm.  Where  blows  were  thickest  and  heaviest,  there  was  he ; 


284      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

and  when  he  encountered  the  great  champion  of  the  South,  Colonel 
Hayne,  in  that  immortal  intellectual  struggle,  the  parallel  of  which  no 
country  has  witnessed,  the  hopes,  the  breathless  anxiety  of  a  nation, 
hung  upon  his  efforts.  And,  O,  what  a  shout  of  joy  and  gratulation 
ascended  to  heaven  at  the  matchless  victory  which  he  achieved  !  Had 
he  then  been  called  to  his  fathers,  the  measure  of  his  fame  would  have 
been  full  to  overflowing,  and  he  would  have  left  a  monument  in  the 
grateful  recollection  of  his  countrymen  such  as  no  statesman  of  modern 
times  had  reared.  But  he  was  reserved  by  a  kind  Providence  for 
greater  efforts.  For  more  than  twenty  years,  in  the  Senate-chamber, 
in  the  courts  of  justice,  and  in  the  executive  councils,  he  has  stood  sen 
tinel  over  the  Constitution.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  master  passion 
of  his  life  to  love,  to  venerate,  to  defend,  to  fight  for  the  Constitution,  at 
all  times  and  in  all  places.  He  did  so  because  the  Union  existed  and 
can  exist  only  in  the  Constitution ;  and  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the 
country  can  exist  only  in  the  Union.  In  fighting  for  the  Constitution, 
he  fought  therefore  for  the  country,  for  the  whole  country. 

"  I  may  not  speak  in  detail  of  the  many  acts  of  his  public  life  which 
have  developed  this  absorbing  love  of  country.  But  there  are  a  few  of 
the  precious  gems  in  the  circlet  which  adorns  his  brow,  that  are  so 
marked  and  prominent  that  they  cannot  be  overlooked. 

"  When  he  first  assumed  the  duties  of  the  Department  of  State,  war 
was  lowering  on  our  horizon  like  a  black  cloud,  ready  to  launch  its 
thunderbolts  around  us.  The  alarming  state  of  our  foreign  relations  at 
that  time  is  shown  by  the  extraordinary  fact,  that  the  appropriation  bills 
passed  by  Congress,  at  the  close  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration, 
contained  an  unusual  provision,  authorizing  the  President  to  transfer 
them  to  military  purposes.  In  a  few  months  after  our  guest  took  the 
matter  in  hand,  the  celebrated  treaty  with  Lord  Ashburton  was  con 
cluded,  by  which  the  irritating  question  of  boundary  was  settled,  every 
difficulty  then  known  or  anticipated  was  adjusted,  and  among  others, 
the  detestable  claim  to  search  our  vessels  for  British  seaman  was  re 
nounced. 

"  In  connection  with  this  treaty,  I  take  this  occasion,  the  first  that  has 
presented  itself,  to  state  some  facts  which  are  not  generally  known. 
The  then  administration  had  no  strength  in  Congress ;  it  could  command 
no  support  for  any  of  its  measures.  This  was  an  obstacle  sufficiently 
formidable  in  itself.  But  Mr.  Webster  had  also  to  deal  with  a  feeble 
and  wayward  President,  an  unfriendly  Senate,  a  hostile  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  and  an  accomplished  British  diplomatist.  I  speak  of  what 
I  personally  know,  when  I  say,  that  never  was  a  negotiation  environed 
with  greater  or  more  perplexing  difficulties.  He  had  at  least  three  par 
ties  to  negotiate  with  instead  of  one,  to  say  nothing  of  Massachusetts 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany    285 

and  Maine,  who  had  to  be  consulted  in  relation  to  a  boundary  that  af 
fected  their  territory.*  You  know  the  result ;  glorious  as  it  was  to  OUT 
country,  how  glorious  was  it  also  to  the  pilot  that  guided  the  ship  through 
such  difficulties ! 

"  You  have  not  forgotten  how  the  generous  sympathies  of  our  guest 
were  awakened  in  behalf  of  the  noble  Hungarians,  in  their  immortal 
resistance  against  the  forces  of  barbarism.  And  sure  I  am  there  is 
not  a  heart  here  that  has  not  treasured  up  the  contents  of  that  world- 
renowned  letter  to  Chevalier  Hulsemann,  in  answer  to  the  intimations 
of  threats  by  Austria  to  treat  our  diplomatic  agent  as  a  spy.  What 
American  was  not  proud  of  being  the  countryman  of  the  author  of  that 
letter  ? 

"  I  confess  I  cannot  now  think  of  that  letter  without  recollecting  the 
sensations  a  particular  part  of  it  produced  upon  my  risible  faculties. 
I  mean  the  comparison  between  the  territories  and  national  impor 
tance  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg  and  those  of  he  United  States  of 
America. 

"  But  I  must  stop  the  enumeration  of  the  great  deeds  in  the  glory  of 
which  we  all  participate,  and  by  the  results  of  which  the  whole  civilized 
world  has  been  benefited.  I  must  stop,  or  the  setting  sun  would  leave 
me  still  at  the  task,  and  the  rising  sun  would  find  it  unfinished. 

"  The  same  soul-absorbing  devotion  to  the  country  and  to  the  Consti 
tution,  as  its  anchor  of  safety,  has  been  exhibited  so  recently  and  so 
remarkably,  that  no  one  can  have  forgotten  it.  In  the  view  which  I 
present  of  the  matter,  it  is  quite  immaterial  whether  we  regard  our  guest 
as  having  been  right  or  wrong.  He  deemed  the  course  he  took  to  be 
the  only  one  permitted  to  him  by  his  sense  of  duty.  On  the  one  side 
were  the  strong  feelings  with  which,  as  a  Northern  man,  he  had  always 
sympathized  ;  there  also  were  the  friends  of  his  youth  and  of  his  age  ; 
the  troops  of  ardent  and  devoted  admirers ;  all  whose  love  was  equal 
to  their  reverence ;  all  the  associations  and  affections  of  life  were  clus 
tered  there ;  while  on  the  other  side  a  feeling  of  enmity,  engendered 
by  former  contests  and  the  defeat  of  all  their  schemes  ;  nothing  to  allure 
or  invite,  but  every  thing  to  repel  except  one,  and  that  was  the  Constitu- 

*  For  the  purpose  of  explanation  it  may  be  well  to  say,  that,  the  Northeastern 
Boundary  having  been  a  matter  of  controversy  for  fifty  years,  and  the  award  of 
the  King  of  the  Netherlands  having  failed  to  take  effect,  Mr.  Webster  proposed 
that  a  line  should  be  established  by  agreement,  upon  the  principle  of  fair  equiva 
lents,  to  be  assented  to  by  Massachusetts  and  Maine.  Massachusetts  accordingly 
appointed  three  commissioners,  and  Maine  four,  selected  from  both  political  par 
ties,  to  proceed  to  Washington,  and  take  part  in  the  negotiations.  The  consent 
of  all  the  commissioners  was  made  the  condition  of  binding  their  respective  States. 
It  will  thus  be  seen,  that  the  difficulty  of  making  a  treaty,  when  so  many  and  such 
diverse  interests  were  to  be  harmonized,  was  immeasurably  increased. 


a86       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

tion  of  the  country.  That,  as  he  conscientiously  believed,  required  him 
to  interpose  and  prevent  a  breach  of  faith,  as  well  as  of  the  organic  law, 
and  avert  a  civil  war  that  he  believed  to  be  impending.  He  hesitated 
not  a  moment,  but  at  once  marched  up  to  the  deadly  breach,  and  was 
ready  to  sacrifice  upon  his  country's  altar  more  than  life,  every  thing 
that  could  render  life  worth  retaining. 

"  My  friends,  whatever  other  view  may  be  taken  of  that  step,  every 
one  knows  that  it  conformed  to  the  whole  plan  of  his  public  life  to  know 
no  North,  no  South,  where  the  Constitution  is  in  question ;  and  there  is 
not  a  heart  in  this  assembly  that  will  not  respond  to  my  voice  when  I 
pronounce  it  heroism ;  heroism  of  the  most  sublime  order.  It  can  be 
compared  only  to  that  of  the  great  Reformer,  who,  when  advised  not  to 
proceed  to  the  Diet  that  was  convoked  to  condemn  him,  declared  that, 
if  fifty  thousand  legions  of  devils  stood  in  the  way,  go  he  would ! 

"  How  poor  and  insignificant  are  all  our  efforts  to  express  our  appre 
ciation  of  such  a  character  and  of  such  services  !  They  have  sunk  deep 
in  our  hearts ;  they  will  sink  deeper  still  in  the  hearts  of  the  unborn 
millions  who  are  to  people  this  vast  continent ;  and  when  he  and  we 
sleep  with  our  fathers,  his  name  will  reverberate  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific,  as  the  defender  of  the  Constitution  and  of  his  country. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  give  you  a  sentiment  which  I  think  will  be  drunk  in 
bumpers  and  standing.  [The  whole  assembly  rose  at  once  with  accla 
mation.] 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  Daniel  Webster :  insep 
arable  now,  and  inseparable  in  the  records  of  time  and  eternity." 

Mr.  Webster  rose  to  respond,  when  the  whole  company  started  from 
their  seats,  and  greeted  him  with  three  times  three  cheers.  Mr.  Web 
ster  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

I  KNOW,  Gentlemen,  very  well,  how  much  of  the  undeserved 
compliment,  or  I  may  say  eulogy,  which  you  have  heard  from 
my  honorable  friend  at  the  head  of  the  table,  is  due  to  a  per 
sonal  and  political  friendship  which  has  now  continued  for  many 
years.  Of  course,  I  cannot  but  most  profoundly  thank  him  for 
the  manner  in  which  he  has  expressed  himself.  Gentlemen, 
what  shall  I  say  ?  What  shall  I  say  to  this  outpouring  of  kind 
ness?  I  am  overwhelmed.  I  have  no  words.  I  cannot  ac 
knowledge  the  truth  of  what  has  been  said,  yet  I  hardly  could 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  deny  it.  It  is  overstated.  It  is  overstated. 
But  that  I  love  the  Constitution  of  the  country ;  that  I  have  a 
passion  for  it,  the  only  political  passion  that  ever  entered  into 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany   287 

my  breast ;  that  I  cherish  it  day  and  night ;  that  I  live  on  its 
healthful,  saving  influences,  and  that  I  trust  never,  never,  never 
to  cease  to  heed  it  till  I  go  to  the  grave  of  my  fathers,  is  as  true 
[turning  to  Mr.  Spencer]  as  that  you  sit  here.  I  do  not  suppose 
I  am  born  to  any  considerable  destiny,  but  my  destiny,  whatever 
it  may  be,  attaches  me  to  the  Constitution  of  the  country.  I 
desire  not  to  outlive  it.  I  desire  to  render  it  some  service.  And, 
on  the  modest  stone  that  shall  mark  my  grave,  whether  within 
my  native  New  Hampshire  or  my  adopted  Massachusetts,  I 
wish  no  other  epitaph  than  this :  While  he  lived,  he  did  what  he 
could  to  support  the  Constitution  of  his  country.  I  confess  to 
you  that  as  to  mere  questions  of  politics,  of  expediency,  I  have 
taken  my  share  in  them,  as  they  have  gone  along,  in  the  course 
of  my  public  life,  which  is  now  fast  running  through.  But  I 
have  felt  no  anxiety,  no  excitement ;  nothing  has  made  me  lie 
awake  at  night,  when  it  is  said  honest  men  sleep,  except  what 
has  concerned  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States !  What  is  there  on 
the  whole  earth ;  what  is  there  that  so  fills  the  imaginations  of 
men  under  heaven ;  what  is  there  that  the  civilized,  liberalized, 
liberty-loving  people  of  the  world  can  look  at,  and  do  look  at,  so 
much  as  that  great  and  glorious  instrument  held  up  to  their 
contemplation,  blazing  over  this  western  hemisphere,  and  dart 
ing  its  rays  throughout  the  world,  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  of  America !  In  Massachusetts,  in  New  York,  in  Wash 
ington,  its  ample  folds  are  athwart  the  whole  heavens.  Are  they 
not  seen  in  all  America,  on  all  the  continent  of  Europe,  gazed  at 
and  honored  in  Russia,  in  Turkey,  in  the  Indian  seas,  in  all  the 
countries  of  the  Oriental  world  ?  What  is  it  that  makes  you  and 
me  here,  to-day,  so  proud  as  we  are  of  the  name  of  America  ? 
What  is  it  ?  It  is  almost  a  miracle ;  the  achievement  of  half  a 
century,  by  wise  men  under  propitious  circumstances,  acting 
from  patriotic  motives ;  a  miracle  achieved  on  earth  and  in  view 
of  all  nations ;  the  establishment  of  a  government,  taking  hold 
on  a  great  continent ;  covering  ample  space  for  fifty  other  gov 
ernments;  having  twenty-five  millions  of  people,  intelligent,  pros 
perous,  brave,  able  to  defend  themselves  against  united  mankind, 
and  to  bid  defiance  to  the  whole  of  them ;  a  noble  monument 
of  republican  honor  and  power,  and  of  republican  success,  that 
throws  a  shade,  and  sometimes  a  deep  and  black  shade,  over 


288      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

the  monarchies,  and  aristocracies,  and  despotisms  of  Europe. 
Who  is  there,  who  is  there  from  the  poles  to  the  Mediterranean, 
despot,  aristocrat,  autocrat,  who  is  there  that  now  dares  to  speak 
reproachfully  or  in  tones  of  derogation  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States  of  America  ?  There  is  not  one.  And  if  we 
may  judge,  my  friends,  of  the  success  of  our  system  of  govern 
ment  from  the  regard  it  attracts  from  all  nations,  we  may  flatter 
ourselves  that  in  our  primitive  republicanism,  in  our  representa 
tive  system,  in  our  departure  from  the  whole  feudal  code  and 
aU  the  prerogatives  of  aristocratic  and  autocratic  power,  from  all 
the  show  and  pageantry  of  courts,  we  shall  hold  ourselves  up 
like  the  face  of  the  sun,  not  marred  by  inscription,  but  bright  in 
glory,  and  glittering  in  the  sight  of  all  men.  And  so  we  will 
stand,  so  shine ;  and  when  the  time  comes  when  I  shall  be  gath 
ered  to  my  fathers,  and  you  to  yours,  that  eternal,  unfading  sun 
of  American  liberty  and  republicanism,  as  steady  in  its  course  as 
the  sun  in  the  heavens,  shall  still  pour  forth  its  beams  for  the 
enlightenment  of  mankind. 

Gentlemen,  I  again  thank  you  for  the  manner  in  which  you 
have  been  pleased  to  receive  the  complimentary  sentiment  pro 
posed  by  my  friend.  I  thank  you,  thank  him.  Gentlemen,  I 
am  happy  to  be  here,  in  this  ancient  city.  Of  course,  I  like  to 
see  my  Yankee  brethren  here,  and  a  great  many  of  them,  of  the 
ancient  stock.  But  I  have  no  objection  to  see  the  recent  impor 
tations,  so  to  describe  them,  come  from  where  they  may ;  be 
cause  I  am  of  opinion,  and  have  expressed  it  again  and  again, 
that  we  have  got  to  that  stage  in  our  affairs,  that  the  world  has 
reached  that  point  in  the  system  of  change  and  innovation,  that 
we  have  nothing  to  do  but  say  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  ancient 
world,  —  the  Irish,  the  Welsh,  the  German,  —  Gentlemen,  come! 
and  the  fact  is,  "the  cry  is  still,  They  come! "  There  are  people 
enough  imported  into  New  York,  twice  a  year,  to  make  a  city 
as  large  as  old  Salem  or  Naumkeag  in  Massachusetts.  Every 
ship  brings  them  to  our  shores,  and  off  they  start  for  Wisconsin. 
Well,  they  come,  and  whether  they  come  from  Dublin,  Cork, 
or  Kerry  they  are  very  happy  to  stay  where  they  are.  If  they 
come  from  the  North  of  Ireland,  if  the  have  a  little  of  the 
canny  Scot  in  them,  they  still  find  themselves  at  home.  Every 
steamboat  brings  them,  and  every  packet ;  and  when  you  think 
they  are  all  here,  "  the  cry  is  still,  They  come ! "  Well,  we  must 


Speech  to  the  Young  Men  of  Albany   289 

meet  this  as  well  as  we  can.  Very  many  of  them  are  excellent 
persons,  and  become  excellent  citizens  of  the  United  States.  I 
am  a  New  England  man.  I  am  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race ;  but 
it  is  my  good  fortune  to  be  connected  in  life  with  a  lady  who 
has  a  portion  of  the  old  Knickerbocker  blood.  I  am  happy  to 
know  that  among  this  company  there  are  many  persons  of 
Dutch  descent.  I  honor  them  all,  and  I  accord  to  them  credit 
for  honesty,  for  sobriety  of  character,  and  for  the  great  aid  they 
have  lent  to  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  this  and  neighboring 
States. 

Gentlemen,  numerous  and  various  as  are  the  elements  of  our 
national  life,  they  are  harmonized  into  one  great  whole,  —  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union.     With  my  dying  breath,  if  I  have 
my  senses,  my  last  prayer  shall  be,  Heaven  save  my  country  and 
the  Constitution !     I  hear  the  cry  of  disunion,  secession.     The 
secession  of  individual  States,  to  my  mind,  is  the  most  absurd  of 
all  ideas.     I  should  like  to  know  how  South  Carolina  is  to  get 
out  of  this  Union.     Where  is  she  to  go  ?    The  commercial  people 
of  Charleston  say,  with  truth   and  propriety,  if  South  Carolina 
secedes  from  the  Union,  we  secede  from  South  Carolina.     The 
thing  is  absurd.     A  separate  secession  is  an  absurdity.     It  could 
not  take  place.     It  must  lead  to  war.     I  do,  indeed,  admit  the 
possibility  that  a  great  mass  of  the  Southern   States,  if  they 
should  come  so  far  north  as  to  include  Virginia,  might  make  a 
Southern  confederation.     But  it  would  put  Virginia  up  to  all 
she  knows  to  accomplish  it.     More  than  half  of  Virginia  Lies  on 
the  west  slope  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  is  connected  with  the 
valley  of  the   Mississippi,  its  people  and  interests,  more  than 
with  those  who  live  on  tide-water.    Do  they  think  that  the  great 
western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies  is  to  be  included  in  a  secession 
movement?      Nevertheless,  it  is  a  most  serious  consideration. 
All  know  what  would  be  the  result  of  any  dismemberment  of 
this  Union,  large  or  small.     The  philosophic  poet  tells  us,  that 
in  the  frame  of  things,  above  us,  beneath  us,  and  around  us, 
there  are  connections,  mutual  dependences  and  relations,  which 
link  them  together  in  one  great  chain  of  existences,  beginning 
from  the  throne  on  high,  and  running  down  to  the  lowest  or 
der  of  beings.     There  seems  to  be  some  analogy  between  this 
great  system  of  the  universe  and  our  association  here  as  sep 
arate  States ;  independent,  yet  connected  ;  revolving  in  separate 
VOL.  iv.  — 19 


290      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

spheres,  and  yet  mutually  bound  one  with  another.  What  the 
poet  says  of  the  great  chain  that  holds  all  together  in  the  moral, 
intellectual,  and  physical  world,  is  applicable  to  the  bond  which 
unites  the  States :  — 

"  Whatever  link  you  strike, 
Tenth,  or  ten  thousandth,  breaks  the  chain  alike." 

Now,  Gentlemen,  it  is  not  for  me  to  do  much  more,  nor 
attempt  much  more,  on  this  theatre  of  action.  I  look  on  to  see 
what  others  shall  do,  and  especially  to  see  what  the  rising  gener 
ation  shall  do.  I  look  on  to  see  what  the  young  men  of  the 
country  are  determined  to  do.  I  see  them  intelligent,  regardless 
of  personal  objects,  holding  on  upon  what  their  ancestors  gave 
them,  holding  on  with  their  whole  strength  to  the  institutions  of 
the  country.  I  know  that,  when  I  shall  slumber  in  the  dust,  the 
institutions  of  the  country  will  be  free  and  safe ;  I  know  that 
the  young  men  of  the  country  can  preserve  the  country.  In  the 
language  of  the  old  Greek  orator,  "  The  young  are  the  spring 
time  of  the  people."  I  wish  to  leave  my  exhortation  to  the 
young  men  all  over  the  country ;  to  say  to  them,  On  you,  young 
men  of  the  republic,  the  hopes,  the  independence,  the  Union, 
the  honor  of  the  country,  entirely  depend.  May  God  bless  you ! 
In  taking  leave  of  you,  whilst  I  shall  never  forget  the  pleasure 
this  occasion  has  given  me,  I  give  you,  as  a  sentiment :  — 

"  The  young  men  of  Albany,  the  young  men  of  this  genera 
tion  and  of  the  succeeding  generations :  may  they  live  for  ever, 
but  may  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  outlive  them  all." 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol 


FELLOW-CITIZENS,  —  I  greet  you  well;  I  give  you  joy,  on 
the  return  of  this  anniversary ;  and  I  felicitate  you,  also,  on  the 
more  particular  purpose  of  which  this  ever-memorable  day  has 
been  chosen  to  witness  the  fulfilment.  Hail!  all  hail!  I  see 
before  and  around  me  a  mass  of  faces,  glowing  with  cheerful 
ness  and  patriotic  pride.  I  see  thousands  of  eyes  turned  to 
wards  other  eyes,  all  sparkling  with  gratification  and  delight 
This  is  the  New  World !  This  is  America !  This  is  Wash 
ington!  and  this  the  Capitol  of  the  United  States!  And 
where  else,  among  the  nations,  can  the  seat  of  government  be 
surrounded,  on  any  day  of  any  year,  by  those  who  have  more 
reason  to  rejoice  in  the  blessings  which  they  possess?  No 
where,  fellow-citizens !  assuredly,  nowhere !  Let  us,  then,  meet 
this  rising  sun  with  joy  and  thanksgiving ! 

This  is  that  day  of  the  year  which  announced  to  mankind 
the  great  fact  of  American  Independence.  This  fresh  and 
brilliant  morning  blesses  our  vision  with  another  beholding  of 
the  birthday  of  our  nation;  and  we  see  that  nation,  of  recent 
origin,  now  among  the  most  considerable  and  powerful,  and 
spreading  over  the  continent  from  sea  to  sea. 

Among  the  first  colonists  from  Europe  to  this  part  of  Amer 
ica,  there  were  some,  doubtless,  who  contemplated  the  distant 
consequences  of  their  undertaking,  and  who  saw  a  great  futurity. 

*  An  Address  delivered  at  the  Laying  of  the  Corner-stone  of  the  Addition  to 
the  Capitol,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1851. 

The  following  motto  stands  upon  the  title-page  of  the  original  pamphlet 
edition :  — 

"  Stet  Capitolium 
Fulgens; 

late  nomen  in  ultima* 
Extendat  oraa." 


294      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

But,  in  general,  their  hopes  were  limited  to  the  enjoyment 
of  a  safe  asylum  from  tyranny,  religious  and  civil,  and  to  re- 
spectable  subsistence,  by  industry  and  toil.  A  thick  veil  hid 
our  times  from  their  view.  But  the  progress  of  America,  how 
ever  slow,  could  not  but  at  length  awaken  genius,  and  attract 
the  attention  of  mankind. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  second  century  of  our  history,  Bishop 
Berkeley,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  resided  for  some 
time  in  Newport,  in  Rhode  Island,  wrote  his  well-known  "  Ver 
ses  on  the  Prospect  of  planting  ARTS  and  LEARNING  in  AMERI 
CA."  The  last  stanza  of  this  little  poem  seems  to  have  been 
produced  by  a  high  poetical  inspiration :  — 

"  Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way  ; 

The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day : 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

This  extraordinary  prophecy  may  be  considered  only  as  the 
result  of  long  foresight  and  uncommon  sagacity ;  of  a  foresight 
and  sagacity  stimulated,  nevertheless,  by  excited  feeling  and 
high  enthusiasm.  So  clear  a  vision  of  what  America  would 
become  was  not  founded  on  square  miles,  or  on  existing  num 
bers,  or  on  any  common  laws  of  statistics.  It  was  an  intuitive 
glance  into  futurity ;  it  was  a  grand  conception,  strong,  ardent, 
glowing,  embracing  all  time  since  the  creation  of  the  world, 
and  all  regions  of  which  that  world  is  composed,  and  judging 
of  the  future  by  just  analogy  with  the  past.  And  the  inimita 
ble  imagery  and  beauty  with  which  the  thought  is  expressed, 
joined  to  the  conception  itself,  render  it  one  of  the  most  striking 
passages  in  our  language. 

On  the  day  of  the  declaration  of  independence  our  illustri 
ous  fathers  performed  the  first  scene  in  the  last  great  act  of  this 
drama ;  one  in  real  importance  infinitely  exceeding  that  for 
which  the  great  English  poet  invokes 

"A  muse  of  fire, 

A  kingdom  for  a  stage,  princes  to  act, 
And  monarchs  to  behold  the  swelling  scene!  " 

The  Muse  inspiring  our  fathers  was  the  Genius  of  Liberty,  all 
on  fire  with  a  sense  of  oppression,  and  a  resolution  to  throw  it 
off;  the  whole  world  was  the  stage,  and  higher  characters  than 
princes  trod  it ;  and,  instead  of  monarchs,  countries  and  nations 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       295 

and  the  age  beheld  the  swelling  scene.  How  well  the  charac 
ters  were  cast,  and  how  well  each  acted  his  part,  and  what 
emotions  the  whole  performance  excited,  let  history,  now  and 
hereafter,  tell. 

At  a  subsequent  period,  but  before  the  declaration  of  inde 
pendence,  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph  published  a  discourse,  in 
which  the  following  remarkable  passages  are  found :  — 

"  It  is  difficult  for  man  to  look  into  the  destiny  of  future  ages ;  the 
designs  of  Providence  are  vast  and  complicated,  and  our  own  powers 
are  too  narrow  to  admit  of  much  satisfaction  to  our  curiosity.  But 
when  we  see  many  great  and  powerful  causes  constantly  at  work,  we 
cannot  doubt  of  their  producing  proportionable  effects. 

44  The  colonies  in  North  America  have  not  only  taken  root  and  ac 
quired  strength,  but  seem  hastening  with  an  accelerated  progress  to  such 
a  powerful  state  as  may  introduce  a  new  and  important  change  in  hu 
man  affairs. 

"  Descended  from  ancestors  of  the  most  improved  and  enlightened 
part  of  the  Old  World,  they  receive,  as  it  were  by  inheritance,  all  the 
improvements  and  discoveries  of  their  mother  country.  And  it  happens 
fortunately  for  them  to  commence  their  flourishing  state  at  a  time  when 
the  human  understanding  has  attained  to  the  free  use  of  its  powers,  and 
has  learned  to  act  with  vigor  and  certainty.  They  may  avail  them 
selves,  not  only  of  the  experience  and  industry,  but  even  of  the  errors 
and  mistakes,  of  former  days.  Let  it  be  considered  for  how  many  ages 
a  great  part  of  the  world  appears  not  to  have  thought  at  all ;  how  many 
more  they  have  been  busied  in  forming  systems  and  conjectures,  while 
reason  has  been  lost  in  a  labyrinth  of  words,  and  they  never  seem  to 
have  suspected  on  what  frivolous  matters  their  minds  were  employed. 

"  And  let  it  be  well  understood  what  rapid  improvements,  what  im 
portant  discoveries,  have  been  made,  in  a  few  years,  by  a  few  countries, 
with  our  own  at  their  head,  which  have  at  last  discovered  the  right 
method  of  using  their  faculties. 

"  May  we  not  reasonably  expect  that  a  number  of  provinces  pos 
sessed  of  these  advantages  and  quickened  by  mutual  emulation,  with 
only  the  common  progress  of  the  human  mind,  should  very  considerably 
enlarge  the  boundaries  of  science  ? 

"  The  vast  continent  itself,  over  which  they  are  gradually  spreading, 
may  be  considered  as  a  treasure  yet  untouched  of  natural  productions 
that  shall  hereafter  afford  ample  matter  for  commerce  and  contempla 
tion.  And  if  we  reflect  what  a  stock  of  knowledge  may  be  accumulat 
ed  by  the  constant  progress  of  industry  and  observation,  fed  with  fresh 
supplies  from  the  stores  of  nature,  assisted  sometimes  by  those  happy 


296      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

strokes  of  chance  which  mock  all  the  powers  of  invention,  and  some 
times  by  those  superior  characters  which  arise  occasionally  to  instruct 
and  enlighten  the  world,  it  is  difficult  even  to  imagine  to  what  height  of 
improvement  their  discoveries  may  extend. 

"  And  perhaps  they  may  make  as  considerable  advances  in  the  arts  of 
civil  government  and  the  conduct  of  life.  We  have  reason  to  be  proud, 
and  even  jealous,  of  our  excellent  constitution  ;  but  those  equitable  prin 
ciples  on  which  it  was  formed,  an  equal  representation  (the  best  discov 
ery  of  political  wisdom),  and  a  just  and  commodious  distribution  of 
power  which  with  us  were  the  price  of  civil  wars,  and  the  rewards  of 
the  virtues  and  sufferings  of  our  ancestors,  descend  to  them  as  a  natural 
inheritance,  without  toil  or  pain. 

"  But  must  they  rest  here,  as  in  the  utmost  effort  of  human  genius  ? 
Can  chance  and  time,  the  wisdom  and  the  experience  of  public  men,  sug 
gest  no  new  remedy  against  the  evils  which  vices  and  ambition  are  per 
petually  apt  to  cause  ?  May  they  not  hope,  without  presumption,  to 
preserve  a  greater  zeal  for  piety  and  public  devotion  than  we  have 
done  ?  For  sure  it  can  hardly  happen  to  them,  as  it  has  to  us,  that 
when  religion  is  best  understood  and  rendered  most  pure  and  reasonable, 
then  should  be  the  precise  time  when  many  cease  to  believe  and  prac 
tise  it,  and  all  in  general  become  most  indifferent  to  it. 

"  May  they  not  possibly  be  more  successful  than  their  mother  country 
has  been  in  preserving  that  reverence  and  authority  which  are  due  to  the 
laws  ?  to  those  who  make,  and  to  those  who  execute  them  ?  May  not 
a  method  be  invented  of  procuring  some  tolerable  share  of  the  comforts 
of  life  to  those  inferior  useful  ranks  of  men  to  whose  industry  we  are  in 
debted  for  the  whole  1  Time  and  discipline  may  discover  some  means 
to  correct  the  extreme  inequalities  of  condition  between  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  so  dangerous  to  the  innocence  and  happiness  of  both.  They  may 
fortunately  be  led  by  habit  and  choice  to  despise  that  luxury  which  is 
considered  with  us  the  true  enjoyment  of  wealth.  They  may  have 
little  relish  for  that  ceaseless  hurry  of  amusements  which  is  pursued 
in  this  country  without  pleasure,  exercise,  or  employment.  And  per 
haps,  after  trying  some  of  our  follies  and  caprices,  and  rejecting  the 
rest,  they  may  be  led  by  reason  and  experiment  to  that  old  simplicity 
which  was  first  pointed  out  by  nature,  and  has  produced  those  models 
which  we  still  admire  in  arts,  eloquence,  and  manners.  The  diversity 
of  new  scenes  and  situations,  which  so  many  growing  states  must  neces 
sarily  pass  through,  may  introduce  changes  in  the  fluctuating  opinions 
and  manners  of  men  which  we  can  form  no  conception  of;  and  not  only 
the  gracious  disposition  of  Providence,  but  the  visible  preparation  of 
causes  seems  to  indicate  strong  tendencies  towards  a  general  improve 
ment." 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       297 

Fellow-citizens,  this  "  gracious  disposition  of  Providence,"  and 
this  "  visible  preparation  of  causes,"  at  length  brought  on  the 
hour  for  decisive  action.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  the  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assem 
bled,  declared  that  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought 

to    be,  FREE  AND  INDEPENDENT   STATES. 

This  declaration,  made  by  most  patriotic  and  resolute  men, 
trusting  in  the  justice  of  their  cause  and  the  protection  of  Heav 
en,  and  yet  made  not  without  deep  solicitude  and  anxiety,  has 
now  stood  for  seventy-five  years,  and  still  stands.  It  was  sealed 
in  blood.  It  has  met  dangers,  and  overcome  them ;  it  has  had 
enemies,  and  conquered  them ;  it  has  had  detractors,  and  abashed 
them  all;  it  has  had  doubting  friends,  but  it  has  cleared  all 
doubts  away ;  and  now,  to-day,  raising  its  august  form  higher 
than  the  clouds,  twenty  millions  of  people  contemplate  it  with 
hallowed  love,  and  the  world  beholds  it,  and  the  consequences 
which  have  followed  from  it,  with  profound  admiration. 

This  anniversary  animates  and  gladdens  and  unites  all  Ameri 
can  hearts.  On  other  days  of  the  year  we  may  be  party  men, 
indulging  in  controversies,  more  or  less  important  to  the  public 
good ;  we  may  have  likes  and  dislikes,  and  we  may  maintain 
our  political  differences,  often  with  warm,  and  sometimes  with 
angry  feelings.  But  to-day  we  are  Americans  all ;  and  all 
nothing  but  Americans.  As  the  great  luminary  over  our  heads, 
dissipating  mists  and  fogs,  now  cheers  the  whole  hemisphere,  so 
do  the  associations  connected  with  this  day  disperse  all  cloudy 
and  sullen  weather  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  true  Americans. 
Every  man's  heart  swells  within  him;  every  man's  port  and 
bearing  become  somewhat  more  proud  and  lofty,  as  he  remem 
bers  that  seventy-five  years  have  rolled  away,  and  that  the  great 
inheritance  of  liberty  is  still  his ;  his,  undiminished  and  unim 
paired  ;  his  in  all  its  original  glory ;  his  to  enjoy,  his  to  protect, 
and  his  to  transmit  to  future  generations. 

Fellow-citizens,  this  inheritance  which  we  enjoy  to-day  is 
not  only  an  inheritance  of  liberty,  but  of  our  own  peculiar  Amer 
ican  liberty.  Liberty  has  existed  in  other  times,  in  other  coun 
tries,  and  in  other  forms.  There  has  been  a  Grecian  liberty, 
bold  and  powerful,  full  of  spirit,  eloquence,  and  fire ;  a  liberty 
which  produced  multitudes  of  great  men,  and  has  transmitted 
one  immortal  name,  the  name  of  Demosthenes,  to  posterity.  But 


298      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

still  it  was  a  liberty  of  disconnected  states,  sometimes  united, 
indeed,  by  temporary  leagues  and  confederacies,  but  often  in 
volved  in  wars  between  themselves.  The  sword  of  Sparta 
turned  its  sharpest  edge  against  Athens,  enslaved  her,  and  de 
vastated  Greece ;  and,  in  her  turn,  Sparta  was  compelled  to  bend 
before  the  power  of  Thebes.  And  let  it  ever  be  remembered, 
especially  let  the  truth  sink  deep  into  all  American  minds,  that 
it  was  the  WANT  OF  UNION  among  her  several  states  which 
finally  gave  the  mastery  of  all  Greece  to  Philip  of  Macedon. 

And  there  has  also  been  a  Roman  liberty,  a  proud,  ambitious, 
domineering  spirit,  professing  free  and  popular  principles  in 
Rome  itself,  but,  even  in  the  best  days  of  the  republic,  ready  to 
carry  slavery  and  chains  into  her  provinces,  and  through  every 
country  over  which  her  eagles  could  be  borne.  What  was  the 
liberty  of  Spain,  or  Gaul,  or  Germany,  or  Britain,  in  the  days  of 
Rome  ?  Did  true  constitutional  liberty  then  exist  ?  As  the  Ro 
man  empire  declined,  her  provinces,  not  instructed  in  the  princi 
ples  of  free  popular  government,  one  after  another  declined  also, 
and  when  Rome  herself  fell,  in  the  end,  all  fell  together. 

I  have  said,  Gentlemen,  that  our  inheritance  is  an  inheritance 
of  American  liberty.  That  liberty  is  characteristic,  peculiar, 
and  altogether  our  own.  Nothing  like  it  existed  in  former  times, 
nor  was  known  in  the  most  enlightened  states  of  antiquity; 
while  with  us  its  principles  have  become  interwoven  into  the 
minds  of  individual  men,  connected  with  our  daily  opinions,  and 
our  daily  habits,  until  it  is,  if  I  may  so  say,  an  element  of  social 
as  well  as  of  political  life ;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  to  what 
ever  region  an  American  citizen  carries  himself,  he  takes  with 
him,  fully  developed  in  his  own  understanding  and  experience, 
our  American  principles  and  opinions,  and  becomes  ready  at 
once,  in  cooperation  with  others,  to  apply  them  to  the  formation 
of  new  governments.  Of  this  a  most  wonderful  instance  may 
be  seen  in  the  history  of  the  State  of  California. 

On  a  former  occasion  I  ventured  to  remark,  that  "  it  is  very 
difficult  to  establish  a  free  conservative  government  for  the  equal 
advancement  of  all  the  interests  of  society.  What  has  Ger 
many  done,  learned  Germany,  more  full  of  ancient  lore  than  all 
the  world  beside  ?  What  has  Italy  done  ?  What  have  they 
done  who  dwell  on  the  spot  where  Cicero  lived  ?  They  have 
not  the  power  of  self-government  which  a  common  town-meet- 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       299 

ing,  with  us,  possesses Yes,  I  say  that  those  persons  who 

have  gone  from  our  town-meetings  to  dig  gold  in  California  are 
more  fit  to  make  a  republican  government  than  any  body  of 
men  in  Germany  or  Italy ;  because  they  have  learned  this  one 
great  lesson,  that  there  is  no  security  without  law,  and  that, 
under  the  circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed,  where  there 
is  no  military  authority  to  cut  their  throats,  there  is  no  sover 
eign  will  but  the  will  of  the  majority ;  that,  therefore,  if  they 
remain,  they  must  submit  to  that  will."  And  this  I  believe  to 
be  strictly  true. 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  if  your  patience  will  hold  out,  I  will  ven 
ture,  before  proceeding  to  the  more  appropriate  and  particular 
duties  of  the  day,  to  state,  in  a  few  words,  what  I  take  these 
American  political  principles  in  substance  to  be.  They  consist, 
as  I  think,  in  the  first  place,  in  the  establishment  of  popular 
governments,  on  the  basis  of  representation ;  for  it  is  plain  that 
a  pure  democracy,  like  that  which  existed  in  some  of  the  states 
of  Greece,  in  which  every  individual  had  a  direct  vote  in  the 
enactment  of  all  laws,  cannot  possibly  exist  in  a  country  of  wide 
extent.  This  representation  is  to  be  made  as  equal  as  circum 
stances  will  allow.  Now,  this  principle  of  popular  representa 
tion,  prevailing  either  in  all  the  branches  of  government,  or  in 
some  of  them,  has  existed  in  these  States  almost  from  the  days 
of  the  settlements  at  Jamestown  and  Plymouth ;  borrowed,  no 
doubt,  from  the  example  of  the  popular  branch  of  the  British 
legislature.  The  representation  of  the  people  in  the  British 
House  of  Commons  was,  however,  originally  very  unequal,  and 
is  yet  not  equal.  Indeed,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  appear 
ance  of  knights  and  burgesses,  assembling  on  the  summons  of 
the  crown,  was  not  intended  at  first  as  an  assistance  and  sup 
port  to  the  royal  prerogative,  in  matters  of  revenue  and  taxa 
tion,  rather  than  as  a  mode  of  ascertaining  popular  opinion. 
Nevertheless,  representation  had  a  popular  origin,  and  savored 
more  and  more  of  the  character  of  that  origin,  as  it  acquired, 
by  slow  degrees,  greater  and  greater  strength,  in  the  actual  gov 
ernment  of  the  country.  The  constitution  of  the  House  of  Com 
mons  was  certainly  a  form  of  representation,  however  unequal ; 
numbers  were  counted,  and  majorities  prevailed;  and  when  our 
ancestors,  acting  upon  this  example,  introduced  more  equality 
of  representation,  the  idea  assumed  a  more  rational  and  distinct 


300      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

shape.  At  any  rate,  this  manner  of  exercising  popular  power 
was  familiar  to  our  fathers  when  they  settled  on  this  continent 
They  adopted  it,  and  generation  has  risen  up  after  generation, 
all  acknowledging  it,  and  all  learning  its  practice  and  its  forms. 

The  next  fundamental  principle  in  our  system  is,  that  the 
will  of  the  majority,  fairly  expressed  through  the  means  of  rep 
resentation,  shall  have  the  force  of  law ;  and  it  is  quite  evident 
that,  in  a  country  without  thrones  or  aristocracies  or  privileged 
castes  or  classes,  there  can  be  no  other  foundation  for  law  to 
stand  upon. 

And,  as  the  necessary  result  of  this,  the  third  element  is,  that 
the  law  is  the  supreme  rule  for  the  government  of  all.  The 
great  sentiment  of  Alcaeus,  so  beautifully  presented  to  us  by  Sir 
William  Jones,  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  our  political  systems :  — 

"  What  constitutes  a  state? 
Not  high-raised  battlement  or  labored  mound, 
Thick  wall  or  moated  gate ; 

Not  cities  proud,  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned ; 
Not  bays  and  broad-armed  ports, 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride ; 
Not  starred  and  spangled  courts, 
Where  low-browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 
No:  MEN,  high-minded  MEN, 
With  powers  as  far  above  dull  brutes  endued, 
In  forest,  brake,  or  den, 

As  beasts  excel  cold  rocks  and  brambles  rude  : 
Men  who  their  duties  know, 

But  know  their  rights,  and,  knowing,  dare  maintain ; 
Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow, 
And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain  : 
These  constitute  a  state ; 

And  SOVEREIGN  LAW,  that  state's  collected  will, 
O'er  thrones  and  globes  elate 
Sits  empress,  crowning  good,  repressing  ill." 

And,  finally,  another  most  important  part  of  the  great  fabric 
of  American  liberty  is,  that  there  shall  be  written  constitutions, 
founded  on  the  immediate  authority  of  the  people  themselves, 
and  regulating  and  restraining  all  the  powers  conferred  upon 
government,  whether  legislative,  executive,  or  judicial. 

This,  fellow-citizens,  I  suppose  to  be  a  just  summary  of  our 
American  principles,  and  I  have  on  this  occasion  sought  to  ex- 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       301 

press  them  in  the  plainest  and  in  the  fewest  words.  The  sum 
mary  may  not  be  entirely  exact,  but  I  hope  it  may  be  suffi 
ciently  so  to  make  manifest  to  the  rising  generation  among  our 
selves,  and  to  those  elsewhere  who  may  choose  to  inquire  into 
the  nature  of  our  political  institutions,  the  general  theory  upon 
which  they  are  founded. 

And  I  now  proceed  to  add,  that  the  strong  and  deep-settled 
conviction  of  all  intelligent  persons  amongst  us  is,  that,  in  order 
to  support  a  useful  and  wise  government  upon  these  popular 
principles,  the  general  education  of  the  people,  and  the  wide 
diffusion  of  pure  morality  and  true  religion,  are  indispensable. 
Individual  virtue  is  a  part  of  public  virtue.  It  is  difficult  to 
conceive  how  there  can  remain  morality  in  the  government 
when  it  shall  cease  to  exist  among  the  people ;  or  how  the  ag 
gregate  of  the  political  institutions,  all  the  organs  of  which  con 
sist  only  of  men,  should  be  wise,  and  beneficent,  and  competent 
to  inspire  confidence,  if  the  opposite  qualities  belong  to  the  in 
dividuals  who  constitute  those  organs,  and  make  up  that  aggre 
gate. 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  I  take  leave  of  this  part  of  the  duty 
which  I  proposed  to  perform ;  and,  once  more  felicitating  you 
and  myself  that  our  eyes  have  seen  the  light  of  this  blessed 
morning,  and  that  our  ears  have  heard  the  shouts  with  which 
joyous  thousands  welcome  its  return,  and  joining  with  you  in 
the  hope  that  every  revolving  year  may  renew  these  rejoicings 
to  the  end  of  time,  I  proceed  to  address  you,  shortly,  upon  the 
particular  occasion  of  our  assembling  here  to-day. 

Fellow-citizens,  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  30th  of  Sep 
tember,  1850,  provision  was  made  for  the  extension  of  the  Cap 
itol,  according  to  such  plan  as  might  be  approved  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  and  for  the  necessary  sums  to  be  ex 
pended,  under  his  direction,  by  such  architect  as  he  might  ap 
point.  This  measure  was  imperatively  demanded,  for  the  use 
of  the  legislative  and  judiciary  departments,  the  public  libraries, 
the  occasional  accommodation  of  the  chief  executive  magis 
trate,  and  for  other  objects.  No  act  of  Congress  incurring  a 
large  expenditure  has  received  more  general  approbation  from 
the  people.  The  President  has  proceeded  to  execute  this  law. 
He  has  approved  a  plan ;  he  has  appointed  an  architect ;  and 
all  things  are  now  ready  for  the  commencement  of  the  work. 


302       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

The  anniversary  of  national  independence  appeared  to  afford 
an  auspicious  occasion  for  laying  the  foundation-stone  of  the 
additional  building.  That  ceremony  has  now  been  performed 
by  the  President  himself,  in  the  presence  and  view  of  this  mul 
titude.  He  has  thought  that  the  day  and  the  occasion  made  a 
united  and  imperative  call  for  some  short  address  to  the  people 
here  assembled ;  and  it  is  at  his  request  that  I  have  appeared 
before  you  to  perform  that  part  of  the  duty  which  was  deemed 
incumbent  on  us. 

Beneath  the  stone  is  deposited,  among  other  things,  a  list  of 
which  will  be  published,  the  following  brief  account  of  the  pro 
ceedings  of  this  day,  in  my  handwriting :  — 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  the  In 
dependence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  the  city  of  Washington, 
being  the  4th  day  of  July,  1851,  this  stone,  designed  as  the  corner-stone 
of  the  extension  of  the  Capitol,  according  to  a  plan  approved  by  the 
President,  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  Congress,  was  laid  by 

MILLARD    FILLMORE, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

assisted  by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Masonic  Lodges,  in  the  presence  of 
many  members  of  Congress,  of  officers  of  the  Executive  and  Judiciary 
Departments,  National,  State,  and  District,  of  officers  of  the  army  and 
navy,  the  corporate  authorities  of  this  and  neighboring  cities,  many  as 
sociations,  civil  and  military  and  masonic,  members  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  and  National  Institute,  professors  of  colleges  and  teachers  of 
schools  of  the  District,  with  their  students  and  pupils,  and  a  vast  con 
course  of  people  from  places  near  and  remote,  including  a  few  sur 
viving  gentlemen  who  witnessed  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Capitol  by  President  Washington,  on  the  18th  day  of  September,  A.  D. 
1793. 

"  If,  therefore,  it  shall  be  hereafter  the  will  of  God  that  this  structure 
shall  fall  from  its  base,  that  its  foundation  be  upturned,  and  this  deposit 
brought  to  the  eyes  of  men,  be  it  then  known,  that  on  this  day  the 
Union  of  the  United  States  of  America  stands  firm,  that  their  Constitu 
tion  still  exists  unimpaired,  and  with  all  its  original  usefulness  and  glory  ; 
growing  every  day  stronger  and  stronger  in  the  affections  of  the  great 
body  of  the  American  people,  and  attracting  more  and  more  the  admi 
ration  of  the  world.  And  all  here  assembled,  whether  belonging  to  pub 
lic  life  or  to  private  life,  with  hearts  devoutly  thankful  to  Almighty  God 
for  the  preservation  of  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  the  country,  unite  ID 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       303 

sincere  and  fervent  prayers  that  this  deposit,  and  the  walls  and  arches, 
the  domes  and  towers,  the  columns  and  entablatures,  now  to  be  erected 
over  it,  may  endure  for  ever ! 

"  GOD  SAVE  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  ! 

"DANIEL  WEBSTER, 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States." 

Fellow-citizens,  fifty-eight  years  ago  Washington  stood  on 
this  spot  to  execute  a  duty  like  that  which  has  now  been  per 
formed.  He  then  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  original  Capitol. 
He  was  at  the  head  of  the  government,  at  that  time  weak  in 
resources,  burdened  with  debt,  just  struggling  into  political  ex 
istence  and  respectability,  and  agitated  by  the  heaving  waves 
which  were  overturning  European  thrones.  But  even  then,  in 
many  important  respects,  the  government  was  strong.  It  was 
strong  in  Washington's  own  great  character ;  it  was  strong  in 
the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  other  eminent  public  men,  his 
political  associates  and  fellow-laborers ;  and  it  was  strong  in  the 
affections  of  the  people. 

Since  that  time  astonishing  changes  have  been  wrought  in 
the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  American  people ;  and  a  de 
gree  of  progress  witnessed  with  which  the  world  can  furnish  no 
parallel.  As  we  review  the  course  of  that  progress,  wonder 
and  amazement  arrest  our  attention  at  every  step.  The  pres 
ent  occasion,  although  allowing  of  no  lengthened  remarks,  may 
yet,  perhaps,  admit  of  a  short  comparative  statement  of  im 
portant  subjects  of  national  interest  as  they  existed  at  that 
day,  and  as  they  now  exist.  I  have  adopted  for  this  purpose 
the  tabular  form  of  statement,  as  being  the  most  brief  and 
significant. 

COMPARATIVE  TABLE. 

Year  1793.  Year  1851. 

Number  of  States, 15  31 

Representatives  and  Senators  in  Congress,  135  295 

Population  of  the  United  States,          .         .  3,929,328        23,267,498 

Population  of  Boston,    ....  18,038  136,871 

Population  of  Baltimore,    ....  13,503  169,054 

Population  of  Philadelphia,  .         .  42,520  409,045 

Population  of  New  York  (city),          .         .  33,121  515,507 

Population  of  Washington, 40,075 

Population  of  Richmond,  ....  4,000  27,582 


304      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Year  1793.  5Tear  1851. 

Population  of  Charleston,         .         .         .               16,359  42,983 

Amount  of  receipts  into  the  Treasury,            8  5,720,624  $  52,312,980 

Amount  of  expenditures,         .         .         .      $7,529,575  848,005,879 

Amount  of  imports,     ....        8  31,000,000  8215,725,995 
Amount  of  exports,         ....    826,109,0008217,517,130 

Amount  of  tonnage  (tons),           .         .                 520,764  3,772,440 

Area  of  the  United  States  in  square  miles,           805,461  3,314,365 

Rank  and  file  of  the  army,           .         .                     5,120  10,000 

Militia  (enrolled),            2,006,456 

Navy  of  the  United  States  (vessels),    .                 (None.)  76 

Navy  armament  (ordnance),            .         .          ....  2,012 

Treaties  and  conventions  with  foreign  powers,                 9  90 

Light-houses  and  light-boats,        ...                  12  372 

Expenditures  for  ditto,            ...            8  12,061  8  529,265 

Area  of  the  Capitol, |  acre  4§  acres. 

Number  of  miles  of  railroad  in  operation,         ....  10,287 

Cost  of  ditto, 8306,607,954 

Number  of  miles  in  course  of  construction,       ....  10,092 

Lines  of  electric  telegraph,  in  miles,   .         15,000 

Number  of  post-offices,    ....                   209  21,551 
Number  of  miles  of  post  route,            .         .            5,642  196,290 
Amount  of  revenue  from  post-offices,       .         8  104,747  8  6,727,867 
Amount  of  expenditures  of  Post-Office  De 
partment,        872,040  86,024,567 

Number  of  miles  of  mail  transportation,  .         ....  52,465,724 

Number  of  colleges,           ....                  19  121 

Public  libraries, 35  694 

Volumes  in  ditto, 75,000  2,201,632 

School  libraries, 10,000 

Volumes  in  ditto, 2,000,000 

Emigrants  from  Europe  to  the  United  States,         10,000  299,610 

Coinage  at  the  Mint,            ....         8  9,664  8  52,019,465 

In  respect  to  the  growth  of  Western  trade  and  commerce,  I 
extract  a  few  sentences  from  a  very  valuable  address  before  the 
Historical  Society  of  Ohio,  by  William  D.  Gallagher,  Esq., 
1850:  — 

"  A  few  facts  will  exhibit  as  well  as  a  volume  the  wonderful  growth 
of  Western  trade  and  commerce.  Previous  to  the  year  1800,  some 
eight  or  ten  keel-boats,  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  tons  each,  performed 
all  the  carrying  trade  between  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburg.  In  1802  the 
first  government  vessel  appeared  on  Lake  Erie.  In  1811  the  first 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       305 

steamboat  (the  Orleans)  was  launched  at  Pittsburg.  In  1826  the  wa 
ters  of  Michigan  were  first  ploughed  by  the  keel  of  a  steamboat,  a  pleas 
ure  trip  to  Green  Bay  being  planned  and  executed  in  the  summer  of 
this  year.  In  1832  a  steamboat  first  appeared  at  Chicago.  At  the 
present  time  the  entire  number  of  steamboats  running  on  the  Mississippi 
and  Ohio  and  their  tributaries  is  more  probably  over  than  under  six  hun 
dred,  the  aggregate  tonnage  of  which  is  not  short  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  thousand ;  a  larger  number  of  steamboats  than  England  can 
claim,  and  a  greater  steam  commercial  marine  than  that  employed  by 
Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies." 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  having  stated  to  you  this  infallible 
proof  of  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  nation,  I  ask  you,  and 
I  would  ask  every  man,  whether  the  government  which  has 
been  over  us  has  proved  itself  an  affliction  or  a  curse  to  the 
country,  or  any  part  of  it  ? 

Ye  men  of  the  South,  of  all  the  original  Southern  States, 
what  say  you  to  all  this  ?  Are  you,  or  any  of  you,  ashamed  of 
this  great  work  of  your  fathers  ?  Your  fathers  were  not  they 
who  stoned  the  prophets  and  killed  them.  They  were  among 
the  prophets ;  they  were  of  the  prophets ;  they  were  themselves 
the  prophets. 

Ye  men  of  Virginia,  what  do  you  say  to  all  this  ?  Ye  men 
of  the  Potomac,  dwelling  along  the  shores  of  that  river  on  which 
WASHINGTON  lived  and  died,  and  where  his  remains  now  rest, 
ye,  so  many  of  whom  may  see  the  domes  of  the  Capitol  from 
your  own  homes,  what  say  ye  ? 

Ye  men  of  James  River  and  the  Bay,  places  consecrated  by 
the  early  settlement  of  your  Commonwealth,  what  do  you 
say?  Do  you  desire,  from  the  soil  of  your  State,  or  as  you 
travel  to  the  North,  to  see  these  halls  vacated,  their  beauty  and 
ornaments  destroyed,  and  their  national  usefulness  gone  for 
ever? 

Ye  men  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge,  many  thousands  of  whom 
are  nearer  to  this  Capitol  than  to  the  seat  of  government  of  your 
own  State,  what  do  you  think  of  breaking  this  great  association 
into  fragments  of  States  and  of  people  ?  I  know  that  some  of 
you,  and  I  believe  that  you  all,  would  be  almost  as  much  shocked 
at  the  announcement  of  such  a  catastrophe,  as  if  you  were  to  be 
informed  that  the  Blue  Ridge  itself  would  soon  totter  from  its 
base.  And  ye  men  of  Western  Virginia,  who  occupy  the  great 

VOL.  IV.  —  20 


306      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

slope  from  the  top  of  the  Alleghanies  to  Ohio  and  Kentucky, 
what  benefit  do  you  propose  to  yourselves  by  disunion  ?  If  you 
"  secede,"  what  do  you  "  secede  "  from,  and  what  do  you  "  ac 
cede  "  to  ?  Do  you  look  for  the  current  of  the  Ohio  to  change, 
and  to  bring  you  and  your  commerce  to  the  tide-waters  of 
Eastern  rivers  ?  What  man  in  his  senses  can  suppose  that  you 
would  remain  part  and  parcel  of  Virginia  a  month  after  Virginia 
should  have  ceased  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  the  United  States  ? 

The  secession  of  Virginia !  The  secession  of  Virginia,  whether 
alone  or  in  company,  is  most  improbable,  the  greatest  of  all  im 
probabilities.  Virginia,  to  her  everlasting  honor,  acted  a  great 
part  in  framing  and  establishing  the  present  Constitution.  She 
has  had  her  reward  and  her  distinction.  Seven  of  her  noble 
sons  have  each  filled  the  Presidency,  and  enjoyed  the  highest 
honors  of  the  country.  Dolorous  complaints  come  up  to  us 
from  the  South,  that  Virginia  will  not  head  the  march  of  se 
cession,  and  lead  the  other  Southern  States  out  of  the  Union. 
This,  if  it  should  happen,  would  be  something  of  a  marvel,  cer 
tainly,  considering  how  much  pains  Virginia  took  to  lead  these 
same  States  into  the  Union,  and  considering,  too,  that  she  has 
partaken  as  largely  of  its  benefits  and  its  government  as  any 
other  State. 

And  ye  men  of  the  other  Southern  States,  members  of  the 
Old  Thirteen ;  yes,  members  of  the  Old  Thirteen ;  that  always 
touches  my  regard  and  my  sympathies ;  North  Carolina,  Geor 
gia,  South  Carolina !  What  page  in  your  history,  or  in  the  his 
tory  of  any  one  of  you,  is  brighter  than  those  which  have  been 
recorded  since  the  Union  was  formed  ?  Or  through  what  period 
has  your  prosperity  been  greater,  or  your  peace  and  happiness 
better  secured  ?  What  names  even  has  South  Carolina,  now  so 
much  dissatisfied,  what  names  has  she  of  which  her  intelli 
gent  sons  are  more  proud  than  those  which  have  been  con 
nected  with  the  government  of  the  United  States  ?  In  Revo 
lutionary  times,  and  in  the  earliest  days  of  this  Constitution, 
there  was  no  State  more  honored,  or  more  deserving  of  honor. 
Where  is  she  now  ?  And  what  a  fall  is  there,  my  countrymen ! 
But  I  leave  her  to  her  own  reflections,  commending  to  her,  with 
all  my  heart,  the  due  consideration  of  her  own  example  in 
times  now  gone  by. 

Fellow-citizens,  there  are  some  diseases  of  the  mind  as  well 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       307 

as  of  the  body,  diseases  of  communities  as  well  as  diseases 
of  individuals,  that  must  be  left  to  their  own  cure ;  at  least 
it  is  wise  to  leave  them  so  until  the  last  critical  moment  shall 
arrive. 

I  hope  it  is  not  irreverent,  and  certainly  it  is  not  intended  as 
reproach,  when  I  say,  that  I  know  no  stronger  expression  in  our 
language  than  that  which  describes  the  restoration  of  the  way 
ward  son ;  "  he  came  to  himself."  He  had  broken  away  from 
all  the  ties  of  love,  family,  and  friendship.  He  had  forsaken  ev 
ery  thing  which  he  had  once  regarded  in  his  father's  house.  He 
had  forsworn  his  natural  sympathies,  affections,  and  habits,  and 
taken  his  journey  into  a  far  country.  He  had  gone  away  from 
himself  and  out  of  himself.  But  misfortunes  overtook  him,  and 
famine  threatened  him  with  starvation  and  death.  No  entrea 
ties  from  home  followed  him  to  beckon  him  back ;  no  admoni 
tion  from  others  warned  him  of  his  fate.  But  the  hour  of  re 
flection  had  come,  and  nature  and  conscience  wrought  within 
him,  until  at  length  "  he  came  to  himself" 

And  now,  ye  men  of  the  new  States  of  the  South !  You  are 
not  of  the  original  thirteen.  The  battle  had  been  fought  and 
won,  the  Revolution  achieved,  and  the  Constitution  established, 
before  your  States  had  any  existence  as  States.  You  came  to 
a  prepared  banquet,  and  had  seats  assigned  you  at  table  just  as 
honorable  as  those  which  were  filled  by  older  guests.  You 
have  been  and  are  singularly  prosperous ;  and  if  any  one  should 
deny  this,  you  would  at  once  contradict  his  assertion.  You 
have  bought  vast  quantities  of  choice  and  excellent  land  at  the 
lowest  price ;  and  if  the  public  domain  has  not  been  lavished 
upon  you,  you  yourself  will  admit  that  it  has  been  appropriat 
ed  to  your  own  uses  by  a  very  liberal  hand.  And  yet  in  some 
of  these  States,  not  in  all,  persons  are  found  in  favor  of  a  disso 
lution  of  the  Union,  or  of  secession  from  it.  Such  opinions  are 
expressed  even  where  the  general  prosperity  of  the  community 
has  been  the  most  rapidly  advanced.  In  the  flourishing  and  in 
teresting  State  of  Mississippi,  for  example,  there  is  a  large  party 
which  insists  that  her  grievances  are  intolerable,  that  the  whole 
body  politic  is  in  a  state  of  suffering ;  and  all  along,  and  through 
her  whole  extent  on  the  Mississippi,  a  loud  cry  rings  that 
her  only  remedy  is  "  Secession,"  "  Secession."  Now,  Gentle 
men,  what  infliction  does  the  State  of  Mississippi  suffer  under  ? 


308      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

What  oppression  prostrates  her  strength  or  destroys  her  happi 
ness?  Before  we  can  judge  of  the  proper  remedy,  we  must 
know  something  of  the  disease ;  and,  for  my  part,  I  confess  that 
the  real  evil  existing  in  the  case  appears  to  me  to  be  a  certain 
inquietude  or  uneasiness  growing  out  of  a  high  degree  of  pros 
perity  and  consciousness  of  wealth  and  power,  which  some 
times  lead  men  to  be  ready  for  changes,  and  to  push  on  unrea 
sonably  to  still  higher  elevation.  If  this  be  the  truth  of  the 
matter,  her  political  doctors  are  about  right.  If  the  complaint 
spring  from  over-wrought  prosperity,  for  that  disease  I  have  no 
doubt  that  secession  would  prove  a  sovereign  remedy. 

But  I  return  to  the  leading  topic  on  which  I  was  engaged, 
[n  the  department  of  invention  there  have  been  wonderful  ap 
plications  of  science  to  arts  within  the  last  sixty  years.  The 
spacious  hall  of  the  Patent  Office  is  at  once  the  repository  and 
proof  of  American  inventive  art  and  genius.  Their  results  are 
seen  in  the  numerous  improvements  by  which  human  labor  is 
abridged. 

Without  going  into  details,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  say,  that 
many  of  the  applications  of  steam  to  locomotion  and  manufac 
tures,  of  electricity  and  magnetism  to  the  production  of  me 
chanical  motion,  the  electrical  telegraph,  the  registration  of 
astronomical  phenomena,  the  art  of  multiplying  engravings, 
the  introduction  and  improvement  among  us  of  all  the  impor 
tant  inventions  of  the  Old  World,  are  striking  indications  of  the 
progress  of  this  country  in  the  useful  arts.  The  network  of  rail 
roads  and  telegraphic  lines  by  which  this  vast  country  is  retic 
ulated  have  not  only  developed  its  resources,  but  united  em 
phatically,  in  metallic  bands,  all  parts  of  the  Union.  The  hy 
draulic  works  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston  surpass 
in  extent  and  importance  those  of  ancient  Rome. 

But  we  have  not  confined  our  attention  to  the  immediate  ap 
plication  of  science  to  the  useful  arts.  We  have  entered  the 
field  of  original  research,  and  have  enlarged  the  bounds  of  scien 
tific  knowledge. 

Sixty  years  ago,  besides  the  brilliant  discoveries  of  Franklin 
an  electricity,  scarcely  any  thing  had  been  done  among  us  in  the 
way  of  original  discovery.  Our  men  of  science  were  content 
-with  repeating  the  experiments  and  diffusing  a  knowledge  of  the 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       309 

discoveries  of  the  learned  of  the  Old  World,  without  attempting 
to  add  a  single  new  fact  or  principle  to  the  existing  stock. 
Within  the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  a  remarkable  improve 
ment  has  taken  place  in  this  respect.  Our  natural  history  has 
been  explored  in  all  its  branches ;  our  geology  has  been  investi 
gated  with  results  of  the  highest  interest  to  practical  and  theo 
retical  science.  Discoveries  have  been  made  in  pure  chemistry 
and  electricity,  which  have  received  the  approbation  of  the  world. 
The  advance  which  has  been  made  in  meteorology  in  this  coun 
try,  within  the  last  twenty  years,  is  equal  to  that  made  during 
the  same  period  in  all  the  world  besides. 

In  1793  there  was  not  in  the  United  States  an  instrument 
with  which  a  good  observation  of  the  heavenly  bodies  could  be 
made.  There  are  now  instruments  at  Washington,  Cambridge, 
and  Cincinnati  equal  to  those  at  the  best  European  observato 
ries,  and  the  original  discoveries  in  astronomy  within  the  last 
five  years,  in  this  country,  are  among  the  most  brilliant  of  the 
age.  I  can  hardly  refrain  from  saying,  in  this  connection,  that 
the  "  Celestial  Mechanics  "  of  La  Place  has  been  translated  and 
commented  upon  by  Bowditch. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  geography  and  topography  of  the 
American  continent  has  been  rapidly  extended  by  the  labor  and 
science  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States  army,  and  discov 
eries  of  much  interest  in  distant  seas  have  resulted  from  the 
enterprise  of  the  navy. 

In  1807,  a  survey  of  the  coast  of  the  United  States  was  com 
menced,  which  at  that  time  it  was  supposed  no  American  waa 
competent  to  direct.  The  work  has,  however,  grown  within 
the  last  few  years,  under  a  native  superintendent,  in  importance 
and  extent,  beyond  any  enterprise  of  the  kind  ever  before  at 
tempted. 

These  facts  conclusively  prove  that  a  great  advance  has  been 
made  among  us,  not  only  in  the  application  of  science  to  the 
wants  of  ordinary  life,  but  in  science  itself,  in  its  highest 
branches,  in  its  adaptation  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  immor 
tal  mind. 

In  respect  to  literature,  with  the  exception  of  some  books  of 
elementary  education,  and  some  theological  treatises,  of  which 
scarcely  any  but  those  of  Jonathan  Edwards  have  any  perma 
nent  value,  and  some  works  on  local  history  and  politics,  like 


310      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Hutchinson's  Massachusetts,  Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia,  the 
Federalist,  Belknap's  New  Hampshire,  and  Morse's  Geography, 
and  a  few  others,  America  had  not  produced  a  single  work  of 
any  repute  in  literature.  We  were  almost  wholly  dependent  on 
imported  books.  Even  our  Bibles  and  Testaments  were,  for 
the  most  part,  printed  abroad.  The  book  trade  is  now  one  of 
the  greatest  branches  of  business,  and  many  works  of  standard 
value,  and  of  high  reputation  in  Europe  as  well  as  at  home, 
have  been  produced  by  American  authors  in  every  department 
of  literary  composition. 

While  the  country  has  been  expanding  in  dimensions,  in  num 
bers,  and  in  wealth,  the  government  has  applied  a  wise  forecast 
in  the  adoption  of  measures  necessary,  when  the  world  shall  no 
longer  be  at  peace,  to  maintain  the  national  honor,  whether  by 
appropriate  displays  of  vigor  abroad,  or  by  well-adapted  means 
of  defence  at  home.  A  navy,  which  has  so  often  illustrated  our 
history  by  heroic  achievements,  though  in  peaceful  times  re 
strained  in  its  operations  to  narrow  limits,  possesses,  in  its  admi 
rable  elements,  the  means  of  great  and  sudden  expansion,  and  is 
justly  looked  upon  by  the  nation  as  the  right  arm  of  its  power. 
An  army,  still  smaller,  but  not  less  perfect  in  its  detail,  has  on 
many  a  field  exhibited  the  military  aptitudes  and  prowess  of  the 
race,  and  demonstrated  the  wisdom  which  has  presided  over  its 
organization  and  government. 

While  the  gradual  and  slow  enlargement  of  these  respective 
military  arms  has  been  regulated  by  a  jealous  watchfulness  over 
the  public  treasure,  there  has,  nevertheless,  been  freely  given  all 
that  was  needed  to  perfect  their  quality ;  and  each  affords  the 
nucleus  of  any  enlargement  that  the  public  exigencies  may  de 
mand,  from  the  millions  of  brave  hearts  and  strong  arms  upon 
the  land  and  water. 

The  navy  is  the  active  and  aggressive  element  of  national 
defence ;  and,  let  loose  from  our  own  sea-coast,  must  display  its 
power  in  the  seas  and  channels  of  the  enemy.  To  do  this,  it 
need  not  be  large ;  and  it  can  never  be  large  enough  to  defend 
by  its  presence  at  home  all  our  ports  and  harbors.  But,  in  the 
absence  of  the  navy,  what  can  the  regular  army  or  the  volunteer 
militia  do  against  the  enemy's  line-of-battle  ships  and  steamers, 
falling  without  notice  upon  our  coast  ?  What  will  guard  our 
cities  from  tribute,  our  merchant- vessels  and  our  navy-yards  from 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       311 

conflagration  ?  Here,  again,  we  see  a  wise  forecast  in  the  sys 
tem  of  defensive  measures,  which,  especially  since  the  close  of 
the  war  with  Great  Britain,  has  been  steadily  followed  by  our 
government. 

While  the  perils  from  which  our  great  establishments  had  just 
escaped  were  yet  fresh  in  remembrance,  a  system  of  fortifica 
tions  was  begun,  which  now,  though  not  quite  complete,  fences 
in  our  important  points  with  impassable  strength.  More  than 
four  thousand  cannon  may  at  any  moment,  within  strong  and 
permanent  works,  arranged  with  all  the  advantages  and  appli 
ances  that  the  art  affords,  be  turned  to  the  protection  of  the  sea- 
coast,  and  be  served  by  the  men  whose  hearths  they  shelter. 
Happy  for  us  that  it  is  so,  since  these  are  means  of  security  that 
time  alone  can  supply ;  and  since  the  improvements  of  maritime 
warfare,  by  making  distant  expeditions  easy  and  speedy,  have 
made  them  more  probable,  and  at  the  same  time  more  difficult 
to  anticipate  and  provide  against.  The  cost  of  fortifying  all  the 
important  points  of  our  coast,  as  well  upon  the  whole  Atlantic 
as  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  will  not  exceed  the  amount  expended  on 
the  fortifications  of  Paris. 

In  this  connection  one  most  important  facility  in  the  defence 
of  the  country  is  not  to  be  overlooked ;  it  is  the  extreme  rapidity 
with  which  the  soldiers  of  the  army,  and  any  number  of  the 
militia  corps,  may  be  brought  to  any  point  where  a  hostile  at 
tack  shall  at  any  time  be  made  or  threatened. 

And  this  extension  of  territory  embraced  within  the  United 
States,  increase  of  its  population,  commerce,  and  manufactures, 
development  of  its  resources  by  canals  and  railroads,  and  rapid 
ity  of  intercommunication  by  means  of  steam  and  electricity, 
have  all  been  accomplished  without  overthrow  of,  or  danger  to, 
the  public  liberties,  by  any  assumption  of  military  power;  and, 
*  indeed,  without  any  permanent  increase  of  the  army,  except  for 
the  purpose  of  frontier  defence,  and  of  affording  a  slight  guard 
to  the  public  property ;  or  of  the  navy,  any  further  than  to  as 
sure  the  navigator  that,  in  whatsoever  sea  he  shall  sail  his  ship, 
he  is  protected  by  the  stars  and  stripes  of  his  country.  This, 
too,  has  been  done  without  the  shedding  of  a  drop  of  blood  for 
treason  or  rebellion;  while  systems  of  popular  representation 
have  regularly  been  supported  in  the  State  governments  and  in 
the  general  government ;  while  laws,  national  and  State,  of  such 


312      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

a  character  have  been  passed,  and  have  been  so  wisely  admin 
istered,  that  I  may  stand  up  here  to-day,  and  declare,  as  I  now 
do  declare,  in  the  face  of  all  the  intelligent  of  the  age,  that,  for 
the  period  which  has  elapsed  from  the  day  that  Washington 
laid  the  foundation  of  this  Capitol  to  the  present  time,  there  has 
been  no  country  upon  earth  in  which  life,  liberty,  and  property 
have  been  more  amply  and  steadily  secured,  or  more  freely  en 
joyed,  than  in  these  United  States  of  America  Who  is  there 
that  will  deny  this  ?  Who  is  there  prepared  with  a  greater  or  a 
better  example  ?  Who  is  there  that  can  stand  upon  the  founda 
tion  of  facts,  acknowledged  or  proved,  and  assert  that  these  our 
republican  institutions  have  not  answered  the  true  ends  of  gov 
ernment  beyond  all  precedent  in  human  history  ? 

There  is  yet  another  view.  There  are  still  higher  considera 
tions.  Man  is  an  intellectual  being,  destined  to  immortality. 
There  is  a  spirit  in  him,  and  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  hath 
given  him  understanding.  Then  only  is  he  tending  toward  his 
own  destiny,  while  he  seeks  for  knowledge  and  virtue,  for  the 
will  of  his  Maker,  and  for  just  conceptions  of  his  own  duty.  Of 
all  important  questions,  therefore,  let  this,  the  most  important 
of  all,  be  first  asked  and  first  answered :  In  what  country  of  the 
habitable  globe,  of  great  extent  and  large  population,  are  the 
means  of  knowledge  the  most  generally  diffused  and  enjoyed 
among  the  people?  This  question  admits  of  one,  and  only 
one,  answer.  It  is  here ;  it  is  here  in  these  United  States ;  it  is 
among  the  descendants  of  those  who  settled  at  Jamestown  ;  of 
those  who  were  pilgrims  on  the  shore  of  Plymouth  ;  and  of  those 
other  races  of  men,  who,  in  subsequent  times,  have  become 
joined  in  this  great  American  family.  Let  one  fact,  incapable 
of  doubt  or  dispute,  satisfy  every  mind  on  this  point.  The  pop 
ulation  of  the  United  States  is  twenty-three  millions.  Now, 
take  the  map  of  the  continent  of  Europe  and  spread  it  out  be 
fore  you.  Take  your  scale  and  your  dividers,  and  lay  off  in  one 
area,  in  any  shape  you  please,  a  triangle,  square,  circle,  parallel 
ogram,  or  trapezoid,  and  of  an  extent  that  shall  contain  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  millions  of  people,  and  there  will  be  found  within 
the  United  States  more  persons  who  do  habitually  read  and  write 
than  can  be  embraced  within  the  lines  of  your  demarcation. 

But  there  is  something  even  more  than  this.  Man  is  not 
only  an  intellectual,  but  he  is  also  a  religious  being,  and  his  re- 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       313 

ligious  feelings  and  habits  require  cultivation.  Let  the  relig 
ious  element  in  man's  nature  be  neglected,  let  him  be  influ 
enced  by  no  higher  motives  than  low  self-interest,  and  subject 
ed  to  no  stronger  restraint  than  the  limits  of  civil  authority,  and 
he  becomes  the  creature  of  selfish  passion  or  blind  fanaticism. 

The  spectacle  of  a  nation  powerful  and  enlightened,  but 
without  Christian  faith,  has  been  presented,  almost  within  our 
own  day,  as  a  warning  beacon  for  the  nations. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  cultivation  of  the  religious  sentiment 
represses  licentiousness,  incites  to  general  benevolence  and  the 
practical  acknowledgment  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  inspires 
respect  for  law  and  order,  and  gives  strength  to  the  whole  social 
fabric,  at  the  same  time  that  it  conducts  the  human  soul  up 
ward  to  the  Author  of  its  being. 

Now,  I  think  it  may  be  stated  with  truth,  that  in  no  country, 
in  proportion  to  its  population,  are  there  so  many  benevolent 
establishments  connected  with  religious  instruction,  Bible,  Mis 
sionary,  and  Tract  Societies,  supported  by  public  and  private 
contributions,  as  in  our  own.  There  are  also  institutions  for  the 
education  of  the  blind,  of  idiots,  of  the  deaf  and  dumb ;  for  the 
reception  of  orphan  and  destitute  children,  and  the  insane ;  for 
moral  reform,  designed  for  children  and  females  respectively; 
and  institutions  for  the  reformation  of  criminals ;  not  to  speak 
of  those  numerous  establishments,  in  almost  every  county  and 
town  in  the  United  States,  for  the  reception  of  the  aged,  infirm, 
and  destitute  poor,  many  of  whom  have  fled  to  our  shores  to  es 
cape  the  poverty  and  wretchedness  of  their  condition  at  home. 

In  the  United  States  there  is  no  church  establishment  or  ec 
clesiastical  authority  founded  by  government.  Public  worship 
is  maintained  either  by  voluntary  associations  and  contribu 
tions,  or  by  trusts  and  donations  of  a  charitable  origin. 

Now,  I  think  it  safe  to  say,  that  a  greater  portion  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  attend  public  worship,  decently  clad, 
well  behaved,  and  well  seated,  than  of  any  other  country  of 
the  civilized  world.  Edifices  of  religion  are  seen  everywhere. 
Their  aggregate  cost  would  amount  to  an  immense  sum  of 
money.  They  are,  in  general,  kept  in  good  repair,  and  conse 
crated  to  the  purposes  of  public  worship.  In  these  edifices  the 
people  regularly  assemble  on  the  Sabbath  day,  which,  by  all 
classes,  is  sacredly  set  apart  for  rest  from  secular  employment 


3 14       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

and  for  religious  meditation  and  worship,  to  listen  to  the  read 
ing  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  discourses  from  pious  minis 
ters  of  the  several  denominations. 

This  attention  to  the  wants  of  the  intellect  and  of  the  soul, 
as  manifested  by  the  voluntary  support  of  schools  and  colleges, 
of  churches  and  benevolent  institutions,  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  characteristics  of  the  American  people,  not  less 
strikingly  exhibited  in  the  new  than  in  the  older  settlements  of 
the  country.  On  the  spot  where  the  first  trees  of  the  forest 
were  felled,  near  the  log  cabins  of  the  pioneers,  are  to  be  seen 
rising  together  the  church  and  the  school-house.  So  has  it  been 
from  the  beginning,  and  God  grant  that  it  may  thus  continue ! 

"  On  other  shores,  above  their  mouldering  towns, 
In  sullen  pomp,  the  tall  cathedral  frowns ; 
Simple  and  frail,  our  lowly  temples  throw 
Their  slender  shadows  on  the  paths  below ; 
Scarce  steal  the  winds,  that  sweep  the  woodland  tracks, 
The  larch's  perfume  from  the  settler's  axe, 
Ere,  like  a  vision  of  the  morning  air, 
His  slight-framed  steeple  marks  the  house  of  prayer. 
Yet  Faith's  pure  hymn,  beneath  its  shelter  rude, 
Breathes  out  as  sweetly  to  the  tangled  wood, 
As  where  the  rays  through  blazing  oriels  pour 
On  marble  shaft  and  tessellated  floor." 

Who  does  not  admit  that  this  unparalleled  growth  in  pros 
perity  and  renown  is  the  result,  under  Providence,  of  the  union 
of  these  States  under  a  general  Constitution,  which  guaranties 
to  each  State  a  republican  form  of  government,  and  to  every 
man  the  enjoyment  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness, 
free  from  civil  tyranny  or  ecclesiastical  domination  ? 

And,  to  bring  home  this  idea  to  the  present  occasion,  who 
does  not  feel  that,  when  President  Washington  laid  his  hand 
on  the  foundation  of  the  first  Capitol,  he  performed  a  great 
work  of  perpetuation  of  the  Union  and  the  Constitution  ?  Who 
does  not  feel  that  this  seat  of  the  general  government,  health 
ful  in  its  situation,  central  in  its  position,  near  the  mountains 
whence  gush  springs  of  wonderful  virtue,  teeming  with  Nature's 
richest  products,  and  yet  not  far  from  the  bays  and  the  great 
estuaries  of  the  sea,  easily  accessible  and  generally  agreeable  in 
climate  and  association,  does  give  strength  to  the  union  of 
these  States  ?  that  this  city,  bearing  an  immortal  name,  with  its 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       315 

broad  streets  and  avenues,  its  public  squares  and  magnificent 
edifices  of  the  general  government,  erected  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  on  within  them  the  important  business  of  the  several 
departments,  for  the  reception  of  wonderful  and  curious  inven 
tions,  for  the  preservation  of  the  records  of  American  learning 
and  genius,  of  extensive  collections  of  the  products  of  nature 
and  art,  brought  hither  for  study  and  comparison  from  all  parts 
of  the  world ;  adorned  with  numerous  churches,  and  sprinkled 
over,  I  am  happy  to  say,  with  many  public  schools,  where  all 
the  children  of  the  city,  without  distinction,  have  the  means  of 
obtaining  a  good  education ;  and  with  academies  and  colleges, 
professional  schools  and  public  libraries,  should  continue  to  re 
ceive,  as  it  has  heretofore  received,  the  fostering  care  of  Con 
gress,  and  should  be  regarded  as  the  permanent  seat  of  the 
national  government  ?  Here,  too,  a  citizen  of  the  great  republic 
of  letters,*  a  republic  which  knows  not  the  metes  and  bounds  of 
political  geography,  has  prophetically  indicated  his  conviction 
that  America  is  to  exercise  a  wide  and  powerful  influence  in 
the  intellectual  world,  by  founding  in  this  city,  as  a  command 
ing  position  in  the  field  of  science  and  literature,  and  placing 
under  the  guardianship  of  the  government,  an  institution  "  for 
the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men." 

With  each  succeeding  year  new  interest  is  added  to  the  spot ; 
it  becomes  connected  with  all  the  historical  associations  of  our 
country,  with  her  statesmen  and  her  orators,  and,  alas !  its  cem- 
eter^  is  annually  enriched  by  the  ashes  of  her  chosen  sons. 

Before  us  is  the  broad  and  beautiful  river,  separating  two  of 
the  original  thirteen  States,  which  a  late  President,  a  man  of 
determined  purpose  and  inflexible  will,  but  patriotic  heart,  de 
sired  to  span  with  arches  of  ever-enduring  granite,  symbolical 
of  the  firmly  cemented  union  of  the  North  and  the  South. 
That  President  was  General  Jackson. 

On  its  banks  repose  the  ashes  of  the  Father  of  his  Country, 
and  at  our  side,  by  a  singular  felicity  of  position,  overlooking 
the  city  which  he  designed,  and  which  bears  his  name,  rises  to 
his  memory  the  marble  column,  sublime  in  its  simple  grandeur, 
and  fitly  intended  to  reach  a  loftier  height  than  any  similar 
structure  on  the  surface  of  the  whole  earth. 

*  Hugh  Smithson,  whose  munificent  bequest  had  been  applied  to  the  founder 
tion  of  "  The  Smithsonian  Institution.'' 


316      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

Let  the  votive  offerings  of  his  grateful  countrymen  be  freely 
contributed  to  carry  this  monument  higher  and  still  higher. 
May  I  say,  as  on  another  occasion,  "  Let  it  rise ;  let  it  rise  till 
it  meet  the  sun  in  his  coming ;  let  the  earliest  light  of  the  morn 
ing  gild  it,  and  parting  day  linger  and  play  on  its  summit ! " 

Fellow-citizens,  what  contemplations  are  awakened  in  our 
minds  as  we  assemble  here  to  reenact  a  scene  like  that  per 
formed  by  Washington!  Methinks  I  see  his  venerable  form 
now  before  me,  as  presented  in  the  glorious  statue  by  Houdon, 
now  in  the  Capitol  of  Virginia.  He  is  dignified  and  grave ;  but 
concern  and  anxiety  seem  to  soften  the  lineaments  of  his  coun 
tenance.  The  government  over  which  he  presides  is  yet  in  the 
crisis  of  experiment.  Not  free  from  troubles  at  home,  he  sees 
the  world  in  commotion  and  in  arms  all  around  him.  He  sees 
that  imposing  foreign  powers  are  half  disposed  to  try  the 
strength  of  the  recently  established  American  government.  We 
perceive  that  mighty  thoughts,  mingled  with  fears  as  well  as 
with  hopes,  are  struggling  within  him.  He  heads  a  short  pro 
cession  over  these  then  naked  fields ;  he  crosses  yonder  stream 
on  a  fallen  tree ;  he  ascends  to  the  top  of  this  eminence,  whose 
original  oaks  of  the  forest  stand  as  thick  around  him  as  if  the 
spot  had  been  devoted  to  Druidical  worship,  and  here  he  per 
forms  the  appointed  duty  of  the  day. 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  if  this  vision  were  a  reality;  if 
Washington  actually  were  now  amongst  us,  and  if  he  could 
draw  around  him  the  shades  of  the  great  public  men  of  his  own 
day,  patriots  and  warriors,  orators  and  statesmen,  and  were  to 
address  us  in  their  presence,  would  he  not  say  to  us :  "  Ye  men 
of  this  generation,  I  rejoice  and  thank  God  for  being  able  to  see 
that  our  labors  and  toils  and  sacrifices  were  not  in  vain.  You 
are  prosperous,  you  are  happy,  you  are  grateful ;  the  fire  of  lib 
erty  burns  brightly  and  steadily  in  your  hearts,  while  DUTY  and 
the  LAW  restrain  it  from  bursting  forth  in  wild  and  destructive 
conflagration.  Cherish  liberty,  as  you  love  it ;  cherish  its  secu 
rities,  as  you  wish  to  preserve  it.  Maintain  the  Constitution 
which  we  labored  so  painfully  to  establish,  and  which  has  been 
to  you  such  a  source  of  inestimable  blessings.  Preserve  the 
union  of  the  States,  cemented  as  it  was  by  our  prayers,  our 
tears,  and  our  blood.  Be  true  to  God,  to  your  country,  and  to 
your  duty.  So  shall  the  whole  Eastern  world  follow  the 


The  Addition  to  the  Capitol       317 

morning  sun  to  contemplate  you  as  a  nation ;  so  shall  all  gen 
erations  honor  you,  as  they  honor  us;  and  so  shall  that  Al 
mighty  Power  which  so  graciously  protected  us,  and  which  now 
protects  you,  shower  its  everlasting  blessings  upon  you  and 
your  posterity." 

Great  Father  of  your  Country !  we  heed  your  words ;  we  feel 
their  force  as  if  you  now  uttered  them  with  lips  of  flesh  and 
blood.  Your  example  teaches  us,  your  affectionate  addresses 
teach  us,  your  public  life  teaches  us,  your  sense  of  the  value  of 
the  blessings  of  the  Union.  Those  blessings  our  fathers  have 
tasted,  and  we  have  tasted,  and  still  taste.  Nor  do  we  intend 
that  those  who  come  after  us  shall  be  denied  the  same  high  frui 
tion.  Our  honor  as  well  as  our  happiness  is  concerned.  We 
cannot,  we  dare  not,  we  will  not,  betray  our  sacred  trust.  We 
will  not  filch  from  posterity  the  treasure  placed  in  our  hands  to 
be  transmitted  to  other  generations.  The  bow  that  gilds  the 
clouds  in  the  heavens,  the  pillars  that  uphold  the  firmament, 
may  disappear  and  fall  away  in  the  hour  appointed  by  the  will 
of  God ;  but  until  that  day  comes,  or  so  long  as  our  lives  may 
last,  no  ruthless  hand  shall  undermine  that  bright  arch  of  Union 
and  Liberty  which  spans  the  continent  from  Washington  to 
California. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  must  sometimes  be  tolerant  to  folly,  and 
patient  at  the  sight  of  the  extreme  waywardness  of  men ;  but  I 
confess  that,  when  I  reflect  on  the  renown  of  our  past  history,  on 
our  present  prosperity  and  greatness,  and  on  what  the  future 
hath  yet  to  unfold,  and  when  I  see  that  there  are  men  who  can 
find  in  all  this  nothing  good,  nothing  valuable,  nothing  truly 
glorious,  I  feel  that  all  their  reason  has  fled  away  from  them,  and 
left  the  entire  control  over  their  judgment  and  their  actions  to 
insanity  and  fanaticism ;  and  more  than  all,  fellow-citizens,  il 
the  purposes  of  fanatics  and  disunionists  should  be  accom 
plished,  the  patriotic  and  intelligent  of  our  generation  would 
seek  to  hide  themselves  from  the  scorn  of  the  world,  and  go 
about  to  find  dishonorable  graves. 

Fellow-citizens,  take  courage ;  be  of  good  cheer.  We  shall 
come  to  no  such  ignoble  end.  We  shall  live,  and  not  die. 
During  the  period  allotted  to  our  several  lives,  we  shall  continue 
to  rejoice  in  the  return  of  this  anniversary.  The  ill-omened 
sounds  of  fanaticism  will  be  hushed ;  the  ghastly  spectres  of 
Secession  and  Disunion  will  disappear,  and  the  enemies  of  united 


3i 8       Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

constitutional  liberty,  if  their  hatred  cannot  be  appeased,  may 
prepare  to  have  their  eyeballs  seared  as  they  behold  the  steady 
flight  of  the  American  eagle,  on  his  burnished  wings,  for  years 
and  years  to  come. 

President  Fillmore,  it  is  your  singularly  good  fortune  to  per 
form  an  act  such  as  that  which  the  earliest  of  your  predecessors 
performed  fifty-eight  years  ago.  You  stand  where  he  stood: 
you  lay  your  hand  on  the  corner-stone  of  a  building  designed 
greatly  to  extend  that  whose  corner-stone  he  laid.  Changed, 
changed  is  every  thing  around.  The  same  sun,  indeed,  shone 
upon  his  head  which  now  shines  upon  yours.  The  same  broad 
river  rolled  at  his  feet,  and  bathes  his  last  resting-place,  that  now 
rolls  at  yours.  But  the  site  of  this  city  was  then  mainly  an 
open  field.  Streets  and  avenues  have  since  been  laid  out  and 
completed,  squares  and  public  grounds  inclosed  and  ornamented, 
until  the  city  which  bears  his  name,  although  comparatively  in 
considerable  in  numbers  and  wealth,  has  become  quite  fit  to  be 
the  seat  of  government  of  a  great  and  united  people. 

Sir,  may  the  consequences  of  the  duty  which  you  perform  so 
auspiciously  to-day,  equal  those  which  flowed  from  his  act.  Nor 
this  only ;  may  the  principles  of  your  administration,  and  the 
wisdom  of  your  political  conduct,  be  such,  as  that  the  world  of 
the  present  day,  and  all  history  hereafter,  may  be  at  no  loss  to 
perceive  what  example  you  have  made  your  study. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  now  bring  this  address  to  a  close,  by  ex 
pressing  to  you,  in  the  words  of  the  great  Roman  orator,  the 
deepest  wish  of  my  heart,  and  which  I  know  dwells  deeply  in 
the  hearts  of  all  who  hear  me :  "  Duo  modo  haec  opto ;  unum, 

UT    MORIENS    POPULUM    ROMANUM    LIBERUM    RELINQUAM  J    hoc  HliM 

majus  a  diis  immortalibus  dari  nihil  potest:  alterum,  ut  ita 
cuique  eveniat,  ut  de  republica  quisque  mereatur." 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  with  hearts  void  of  hatred,  envy, 
and  malice  towards  our  own  countrymen,  or  any  of  them,  or 
towards  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  other  governments,  or  towards 
any  member  of  the  great  family  of  man ;  but  exulting,  never 
theless,  in  our  own  peace,  security,  and  happiness,  in  the  grate 
ful  remembrance  of  the  past,  and  the  glorious  hopes  of  the  fu 
ture,  let  us  return  to  our  homes,  and  with  aU  humility  and  devo 
tion  offer  our  thanks  to  the  Father  of  all  our  rrercies,  political, 
social,  and  religious. 


Note 


THE  following  letter,  received  after  the  delivery  of  the  foregoing  Ad 
dress,  from  a  gentleman  who  witnessed  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of 
the  Capitol  by  President  Washington,  will  be  read  with  interest :  — 

"Boston,  July  8,  1851. 

"  MY  HONORED  SIR, —  I  cannot  well  refrain  from  thus  thanking  you 
for  your  address  at  the  metropolis,  on  the  4th  instant,  which  I  have  read 
from  the  newspapers.  It  has  carried  me  back  to  that  scene  so  happily 
adverted  to  by  you,  of  which  I  was  a  witness,  on  the  18th  of  September, 
1793,  when  in  boyhood. 

"  The  cavalcade  on  the  morning  of  that  day  was  formed  at  Suter's 
tavern,  in  Georgetown,  three  miles  from  the  spot  where  Washington, 
in  person,  officiated  at  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Capitol ;  that  day,  I  remember,  was  clear  sunshine,  and  very  hot  for  the 
season.  After  the  ceremony  was  over,  a  large  company  returned  to 
Suter's,  to  partake  of  a  dinner  prepared  for  the  occasion,  and  where  a 
most  joyous  entertainment  was  realized.  Living  just  opposite  the  din- 
ing-place,  I  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  some  of  the  most  prominent  of 
the  company  ;  namely,  the  City  Commissioners ;  Ellicott,  the  surveyor ; 
Major  Benjamin  Stoddert,  afterwards  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Colonel 
Uriah  Forrest,  a  Revolutionary  officer,  who  had  lost  a  leg  in  the  battle 
of  Brandywine ;  General  Lingan,  the  then  collector  of  the  port  of 
Georgetown,  and  who  several  years  after  was  massacred  by  the  mob  in 
Baltimore,  at  a  memorable  and  hateful  period  of  party  strife ;  Robert 
Peters,  the  father  of  Thomas  Peters,  who  married  one  of  Mrs.  Washing 
ton's  granddaughters;  Colonel  William  Deakins,  one  of  the  best  es 
teemed  gentlemen  in  the  State  of  Maryland ;  with  many  others  I  could 
name.  They  all,  with  Washington,  sat  down  at  the  full  board  on  that 
joyous  occasion.  I  heard  one  of  the  company,  after  dinner,  remark, 
that '  Washington  himself  was  most  happy.'  To  take  a  retrospect  of 
fifty-eight  years,  and  have  that  scene,  with  its  present  connections,  so 


320      Speeches  on  Public  Occasions 

well  expressed  as  your  words  have  done  it,  is  to  me  intensely  interest 
ing,  and  I  shall,  therefore,  make  no  apology  for  thus  intruding  upon 
your  time. 

"  We  all  see,  that  all  which  the  most  sanguine  of  dreams,  or  the  in 
spired  prophecy  of  the  poet,  could  suggest,  has  been  realized.  I  have 
only  to  regret,  Sir,  that  I  was  not  there  to  join  the  few  remaining  sur 
vivors  who  were  also  present  at  the  former  celebration. 

"  I  am,  respectfully  and  truly,  your  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"  HENRY  LUNT. 

"How.  DANIEL  WBBSTBR,  Washington,  D.  C.n 


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14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

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